Embrace to Awaken
by Jediempress
Summary: Complete. As his birthday approaches, Riku begins acting odd.  Then King Mickey arrives with concerning news and the search begins for the birthday gift that will prevent tragedy. Cowritten by RikuRocks.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: Neither I nor Riku-Rocks owns anything but the idea itself.

Embrace to Awaken

Prologue

The boy was talking to that blonde man again. She watched from the large balcony that jutted off from the meeting room. The teenager laughed at something and the other shook his head. She frowned at the display. The boy had far too much light still in him.

Yes, he had performed every task given to him flawlessly. He did everything exactly as she wanted, not questioning. She didn't even have to spell out what needed to be done with him. He seemed to instinctively know and at times it seemed he had a plan before she even finished explaining the assignment.

In essence, he was the perfect minion.

But she didn't have control over him. He was only doing this to save his friend and there was only so long she could delay the inevitable. She hated to lose the boy. There had to be a way to keep him here. If not, then he would become another expendable asset.

"Hey, there you are."

She stared up at the sky and cursed the gods. "What is it, Hades?"

"Just, uh, wondering what the next move was." Blue flames flickered in the breeze and he studied his nails. "Getting bored with all this, ya know?"

"I'm terribly sorry." She said dryly, returning her attention to the courtyard.

"What are you lookin' at?" The Lord of the Dead stepped up beside her. He frowned, eyes narrowing. "What's he doing here?"

"He comes here often."

Hades stared down at the pair. "Looks to me your boy there is completely taken by blondie."

"Indeed." Maleficent spoke neutrally. She didn't like this at all. The blonde warrior had worked for Hades, that was how her newest acquisition had met him. She had noted immediately that the two had instantly connected. It hadn't been an issue for both had the same type of job and neither interfered with the other.

However the blonde had ultimately failed in his task. He had the perfect opportunity to eliminate that troublesome Keyblade master and he didn't. She was still disappointed with Hades for not managing to destroy his former lackey for his failure.

The blonde would be a bad influence. They could not afford to lose this boy. Especially if what Xehanort believed was true and so far he'd been dead on with his assessments. They needed this child to complete their goals.

Another laugh rang through the air.

Hades snorted. "The kid reminds me of that creep you wanted to bring in."

"Who?"

"Oh you know." Hades waved a hand. "The guy we're not supposed to talk about because he totally insulted you when you tried to get him to join us. The one with the wing."

Oh, him. Yes, she had forgotten about him. Glancing at her little project, the similarities were suddenly very obvious. The same silver hair, the same facial structure, even the expressions were often the same.

"They both got those weird glowy green eyes." Hades commented, folding his arms. "Ya know, Blondie has those glowy eyes too. Course, he and He Who Must Not Be Named come from the same world. Maybe the kid's from there too."

Maleficent narrowed her eyes in thought. A bony finger tapped her chin. Now there was an intriguing idea. The boy was certainly unique. Perhaps there was something to Hades' theory.

There was only one way to find out.

---

This one has evolved from an idea I got from LunaLocket. I'm sure it's totally not what she expected but how it's enjoyable none the less. This is a collaboration with Riku-Rocks so she is to get as much credit as I do. I'm just the one actually posting it.

There will be yaoi eventually and we just plan to have fun with this. Please leave you're initial reactions and the first chapter will be up something next week.


	2. Birthdays and Blemishes

"Hey, has anyone seen Riku?"

Four shaking heads answered Sora. Kairi, Selphie, and Wakka hadn't even bothered to look over. Tidus shrugged at him. "He's been avoiding us all week."

Sora frowned. He had noticed that. It wasn't terribly unusual for Riku to get into these isolationist modes, but he'd never gone out of his way to avoid Sora along with the others while in them. Normally, Sora was the only one he stuck around, yet it seemed that Sora was the one he was avoiding the most this time.

"Did you try the play island?" Kairi flicked her eyes over.

"No, I was hoping he was here." If Riku had gone to the play island, it meant something big was troubling him. With Riku's birthday less than a week away, that concern could be anything.

"Well, he isn't." Selphie bit her lip, looking over a paper on the floor critically. "Hey, Sora? Whatcha getting Riku for his birthday?"

"I haven't even thought of that," Sora pouted. "Been too busy trying to keep tabs on him."

"I don't know why you bother," commented Tidus. "He does stuff like this all the time. Give him a few days and he's totally fine again."

Sora sighed. He knew that too, but it didn't stop him from worrying. He knew it was ridiculous that he got panicky whenever he didn't know where the silver-haired boy was. Thankfully, Kairi understood and never gave him a hard time.

"Go look, Sora." She smiled, "But make sure you see me later this afternoon so I can tell you what we need you to do for the party."

He nodded with a smile and raced off.

On the little island where they had spent their childhood playing away, pretending to be the great heroes they never imagined any of them, especially Sora, would ever really become, Sora jogged straight for the smaller side island and its bent-over Papou tree. He didn't see Riku sitting on it and due to Riku's height; he should have seen the top of his head at least if he was leaning against it.

He came the rest of the way and ducked under the end near the large palm leaves.

Riku was sitting on the sandy ground leaning against the trunk, arms folded across his lower chest. His eyes were closed tightly and his breathing sounded like he was consciously trying to control the rate. It almost looked as if he were in pain.

"Riku?"

Aqua eyes snapped open and a fake smile took over that face. "Oh, hey Sora."

The brunette tilted his head in concern. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Riku chuckled a bit as he slowly stood. It didn't disguise the groan. "I'm fine. Just out here brooding. You know me."

Sora knew him far too well to believe that load of crap. He also knew Riku was not going to talk about it.

"What's up?" Riku rested a shoulder on the rough surface of the tree. "They still insisting on throwing me a party?"

"Well, yeah; Of course. This is Kairi and Selphie we're talking about." Sora laughed.

"Yeah," Riku subtly took a breath. "Go back and help them. I know you want to. You found me; I'm perfectly okay so you can ease your little mind. I'll be back later."

Sora frowned. He could tell Riku was pushing him away again. "What's wrong, Riku?"

"Nothing; why do you always assume something's wrong?" Riku snapped. "Can't I have one minute without you tracking me down in a nervous panic?"

The smaller boy bit his lip. "Of course, Riku. I'm, I'm sorry."

Riku sighed and fell against the tree. "No, I'm sorry. That was completely uncalled for. I know why you do it and I really do appreciate the concern."

Sora nodded once, still clearly upset by the other boy's outburst.

"I promise, Sora, I'm fine. I'll meet up with all of you at juice bar in about an hour, okay?"

"Okay." Sora agreed slowly. He really didn't want to leave but he didn't want Riku to be mad at him either. He hesitantly turned away only to have a hand grip his shoulder.

Riku pulled him to him in a tight embrace. "Thanks, Sora."

"You're welcome." Sora had no idea why his friend was thanking him at this time. He was released and he walked away.

Riku watched after him until he crossed the bridge. Then he let out a pained groan and sank to his knees. He bit his lip and fought not to pass out.

This had to be ending soon. These little spells he'd been having for the past month rarely lasted more than ten minutes… Never the less, the one's that did…

He took a slow deliberate breath, the strange stirring pain in his abdomen finally beginning to ease. It was such a weird feeling, as though something was moving around within him. If this were a sci-fi movie, he'd swear there was an alien inside him waiting to burst forth.

_Aliens, heh…_

He slowly got to his feet, making sure he would not get dizzy again. He had no idea what was wrong with him. Being who he was, he refused to see a doctor about this. Somehow, he knew that no doctor would have an explanation. He really didn't need to hear '_rest and drink lots of fluids'_.

Feeling somewhat normal, he moved to straighten his shirt. He paused in his efforts, however. Carefully, he lifted the fabric and frowned. The large blackish-purple splotch discoloring his skin, which had appeared along with the symptoms, was spreading. He was really getting worse.

He would have to find a longer shirt to wear, as his usual ones would not cover it much longer. He dropped the fabric and sighed. Then he headed for his boat.

Sora was oddly quiet when he returned to the main island. Tidus and Wakka had left for blitzball practice, and Selphie was running some errand. This left Kairi alone with the preparation lists.

She looked up and immediately noted Sora's expression. "He was there, wasn't he?"

"Yeah," Sora sat beside her. Worry was etched across his face. "Something's really wrong with him."

Kairi studied him for a moment. "What did he say?"

"He yelled at me," Sora frowned, "He never does that."

"He yelled?" That _was_ different. Riku almost never so much as raised his voice. He had been off lately but with this piece of information, she knew there was much more to it than his usual mood swings.

Maybe she should try talking to him.

"Yeah, he apologized right after but it was just weird." Sora leaned back, resting his weight on his hands. "You don't think something's wrong at home, do you? I mean, more wrong than usual."

"Doubt it." Since returning home from their journey, Riku had been having frequent arguments with his parents. He'd aged so much over the previous two years that for all intent and purpose he had become completely independent. His parents had tried to give him some space but he was still only sixteen, about to become seventeen, and there were rules to be followed.

Riku had threatened to run away several times but he could never go through with it. He loved his parents but couldn't stand living under them. It made for a rather tense situation.

"Hmm…" Sora pursed his lips. "I wonder what's wrong."

"I'm sure he'll tell us when he's ready," Kairi assured him.

"Yeah," Sora's expression changed. He grinned at her and straightened out. "So what have you guys figured out?"

"Well, Selphie totally wants to go overboard but I managed to keep her reined in." Kairi showed him the paper with the list of ideas. "We can have it at my house, I already got permission. Since it's been so hot, we thought a pool party would be best even though Riku isn't all that fond of water lately. There will be enough other stuff; he won't have to hit the pool if he doesn't want to."

Sora nodded, looking over the paper. "This should be fun. Hopefully, Riku will be feeling better by then."

"Oh, he will." Kairi giggled. It came out sounding a bit forced. She really had no idea what was going on with their friend but she had to believe it would be okay.

"So what do I need to do?"

"You just have to get Riku there." She took the sheet from him and folded it in fourths. "We have everything else covered so you spend the day with Riku and make sure he gets to the house by six."

"Got it." Sora mock saluted at her.

"Hey, guys. Forgetting about me again?" Riku leaned on the wall beside them.

Sora jumped a little. "Man, Riku don't do that! You're like totally silent. It's scary."

He turned to look at his friend. "Did you change your shirt?"

Riku shrugged, "Yeah, so?"

Sora made a face but made a dismissive gesture. "Just wondering."

"So you two wanna get dinner?" Riku looked completely normal again.

Kairi nodded happily. "Sure; there's a noodle shop over on Sixth Street that supposed to be fantastic."

"Uh, I think I'll pass." Sora mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

"You're broke again, aren't you?" Riku chuckled. "Don't worry, I've got you covered."

Sora lit up. He jumped to his feet and threw his arms around Riku. "Really? Oh, thank you, thank you!"

The older boy groaned loudly, his face scrunching up in pain. Sora quickly moved away and watched Riku bit his lip and twist his neck. In less than a minute, he had re-schooled his features and straightened out.

"Oh, man… I'm sorry, Riku." Sora rushed out. "I didn't think I was that rough."

"It's, it's alright, Sora," Riku choked a laugh. "Let's get out of here."

The three friends left, none of them noticing the person who had been watching the scene play out from the window opposite them. The observer frowned to himself and quietly walked away. He wandered over to the park and sat beside a palm tree.

It was beginning.

Thanks for all the positive responses to the prologue! Please keep it up, it really motivates me and this one is going to be very different for me. Thank goodness I have a really good co-author.


	3. Black Thoughts and White Lies

At school, Riku was even more withdrawn. He kept himself completely focused on his classes and barely spared a wave or quick hello in the hallways. He seemed so exhausted and worn out. The professor reprimanded Sora during their shared mythology class because he was constantly staring at the other.

It was no wonder everyone thought the two friends were dating.

Riku went straight home at the end of the day, always having some reason or excuse as to why Sora could not follow. After three days of this, Sora finally cracked. Riku had casually waved him off as they left school, mumbling something about going to the library to do some research. Next thing he knew, Sora had smacked his arm and when he looked at him, he was surprised to see tears in those blue eyes.

"Why are you pushing me away, Riku? What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything," Riku sighed, "I just… I haven't been feeling too well lately. You know how much I hate anyone seeing me weak."

Sora slowly nodded.

"I'm sorry, Sora. Please don't be upset." Riku hated causing Sora pain. "I don't mean to trouble you."

Sora grew a bit angry, "And you still haven't figured out that I _want _you to trouble me. I _want_ to know if something is upsetting you, or hurting you or whatever… You're my best friend. We're supposedly closer than brothers."

Riku bit his lip. He really didn't want Sora involved in whatever it was that was afflicting him. At least not until he had some idea on what it was. He knew Sora would worry himself sick over it, more than he was worrying now.

"We are," He spoke quietly. That ache in his chest was returning. "Look, I swear to you I'll be fine. I'm going to go to library but after dinner, I'll come over and we'll play that new game I got."

The brunette brightened considerably; "You promise?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Sora hefted his bag. "So like, seven…?"

"Yeah," Riku's voice was a bit strained but Sora failed to notice.

He only grinned happily, "Okay, I'll see you then."

Riku nodded once and watched him run off. He let out a painful breath and closed his eyes, warding off a wave of nausea. Once it faded, he shifted his satchel and turned for the library.

It was almost eight before Riku actually showed up at Sora's house. He never made it to the library. Instead, he had gone home and ended up passing out on the couch. It was not until his mother woke him up with concern etched on her face that he even realized where he was.

He had mumbled something to her about not sleeping well and brushed off her suggestion to see the doctor. His father had lectured him for a few minutes about not treating his mom so moodily, which Riku had quickly tuned out. They really did not know him any more.

He apologized, for he really had not meant to hurt her feelings, then said he needed to get some work done and managed to slip out the door. He wasn't hungry anyway… He hadn't been hungry for nearly a week.

Sora had looked annoyed when Riku appeared in his bedroom doorway but his expression quickly changed to a frown. Simply put, Riku looked like crap. "I didn't think you were gonna make it."

"You know I'd never ditch you without good reason." He sat on the floor, back against the bed. "Damn it, I forgot the game."

"It's okay," Sora grinned. "We can play something else. Oh, I know…"

He pulled out his book of video games and flipped through pages. "I've been practicing so I bet I can whoop you now. Here it is…"

Riku watched him put a disk in the console and caught the controller tossed at him.

Twenty minutes later, Sora knew Riku was completely out of it. He had beaten him every single round and it was clear the older teen was not focused on the game at all. In fact, he didn't seem to focus on much of anything.

"So two more days," Sora invited.

"Huh?" Riku blinked once with a slight shake of his head. "Oh, yeah… They don't have anything obnoxiously big planned, do they?"

"Naw, I mean, it's gonna be bigger than what you want but considering it's them, it's rather low key." Sora laughed. "Me and Wakka have done a pretty good job keeping them in check."

"Good-" Riku choked out. He pursed his lips in a slight grimace.

Sora's eyes widened. "Are you-"

"It's fine… Just a weird pain." Riku knew the best lies were based in truth. "I've had a few of them lately. That's why I've been tired."

"You should see the doctor."

Riku waved it off. "It's getting better."

Sora didn't look convinced but didn't bother to push it further. It would only make Riku stubborn at this point. If it was getting better than it wasn't worth pursuing and Riku wouldn't lie to him.

"Why don't we watch a movie?" suggested Sora. He knew Riku would likely fall asleep but he really looked like he needed it.

Riku shrugged.

Sure enough, Riku was out fifteen minutes in. Sora watched him for a while, worry marring his usually cheerful demeanor. Something was seriously wrong here but he knew Riku would never say a word about it until he felt he had no other options.

Riku's face tightened and his upper body tensed as he made a strained sound.

Sora reached out and brushed his face. He couldn't tell if the actions of the other were out of pain or simply one of his frequent nightmares. The teen relaxed a little at the touch and he murmured, "Cloud."

Sora drew away slowly, surprised. That was unexpected.

He knew that Riku had met Cloud Strife a few times during the first month or so of the Kingdom Hearts journey. The blond swordsman had been working for Hades at the time and the Lord of the Underworld had often dragged him to some of the meetings to act as a bodyguard. Maleficent had recently taken Riku in. They had run into each other at the castle and conversed some.

Riku had said that Cloud had been helpful in keeping him somewhat sane; having been in a similar position as Riku, but that was all that the silver-haired teen would say. He would grow oddly quiet when the subject of Cloud came up.

Why would he be saying his name now?

Sora stood and pulled a pillow off his bed. He carefully placed it behind Riku's head and quietly left the room. He went downstairs, told his mom he would be back in a minute and that Riku had fallen asleep upstairs. She okayed him, and he walked outside.

He put his hands in his pockets as he headed down the street. Two blocks down was an old stone structure that had been crumbling since before even the mayor could remember. No one knew what it had been and the local kids, including Sora and his friends, had played there until they were old enough to go to one of the small islands across the bay.

Sora had taken to going there when he wanted to think. It reminded him of the Bailey on Radiant Garden, and if nothing else, the place made him feel better.

It was almost dark, just past the twilight stage. It was kind of ominous feeling to Sora. Whatever was affecting Riku was really getting to him. He was clearly coming, or had already come, down with something serious. When it came to being sick or injured, Riku was much like a cat; you never saw the symptoms until it was really bad.

After the whole Xemnas thing and their return to the Islands, Riku had been able to move normally by sheer force of will, adrenalin, and the stimulus of being home. Once that wore off, however, he had collapsed and required treatment for bruised ribs. Apparently, potions and elixirs couldn't cure all.

A light breeze ruffled at Sora's spiky hair. Maybe Riku was telling the truth and he truly was getting better, but Sora really didn't believe it. Riku was trying harder than ever to disguise whatever was ailing him from Sora.

He sighed and slid off the stone he was sitting on. He decided he had better get back and check on Riku.

Gods, was his neck stiff. At least it distracted him from the twisting in his belly. Riku's eyes opened into slits. He wondered where he was, and then he remembered: Sora's. Sora himself didn't seem to be around and a groan escaped Riku as he forced himself upright. A pillow fell from behind him, likely put there by Sora.

He smiled slightly at his best friend's efforts to make him comfortable.

The door cracked open and Sora's mom poked her head in. She grinned at him softly when she saw that he was awake. She finished coming into the room holding a light blanket in her hands, "I was going to bring you a blanket but you don't need it any more."

"What time is it?"

"A little before ten."

"I need to get home; I've still got homework." He pressed his back against the bed and lifted with his feet. His hands braced the mattress. It didn't work nearly as well as it should have.

Sora's mom was there in an instant, helping him up.

He muttered a weak thank you, clearly embarrassed.

She brushed at his bangs to look him in the eyes. She studied him for a moment, searching for something. She gave him a sympathetic smile. "You know I'm here if you need anything."

He nodded.

"Now, will you be all right walking home by yourself?" She asked with some concern.

"Yeah," Riku assured her. He really wasn't feeling too bad at the moment. "Where's Sora?"

"He went out for a little bit. He's very worried about you."

"I know;" Riku sighed, "I hate when he worries."

"He loves you as a brother, Riku." She sat on the bed, "I still don't know what exactly happened between the two of you, but he gets frantic if he thinks something's wrong with you. It concerns me sometimes, this almost unnatural attachment both of you seem to have."

Riku frowned, unsure where she was going with this.

"The point is that you and he need one another. You have to start letting him take some of the burden for you, as I know you do for him. You're not alone, Riku."

It was the first time in a long time that Riku was brought to tears. He did not actually cry, but it was a near thing. He hugged the woman tightly, ignoring the pain it caused him. "Thank you… I really needed to hear that."

"You're welcome."

He left soon after, not able to wait for Sora to return. He was somewhat glad for that. It was simply too hard to be around him when Riku was like this. He tried to walk home swiftly but he was tiring quickly and slowed down in the hope that it would hold out his energy to make it to his house.

"Riku!"

He paused knowing he couldn't just ignore the voice. It was too close to pretend he didn't hear. Hopefully, this would be short. He turned slightly, "Hey, Tidus, Wakka."

"You coming back from Sora's?" The blonde shook out his damp hair.

"Yeah, how'd practice go?" He felt himself wobble a bit but the other two didn't notice.

Wakka shrugged, "Captain ain't too happy, but he never is, ya?"

"The new guys are really bad," Tidus informed him. "Capt.'s been asking again if we can get you on the team."

Riku laughed. "He's been trying to get me on the team for how long? He should know the answer to that one by now."

"Yeah," Wakka laughed.

"Look, guys." Riku chuckled, covering a cough. "I still got a ton of homework to get done."

"You look like you're gonna fall asleep on your feet." Tidus tilted his head. "You been sleeping okay?"

"Actually, not really…" Silver hair blew into his face and he pushed it aside. "School's just got me stressing, you know?"

"But you're the genius. The teachers love you." Tidus said in mock shock. "Mr. Perfect Marks."

"Yeah, yeah," He really hated that reputation. "Well, even we geniuses have to study sometimes."

"Come on, man," Wakka nudged his blonde friend. "We better let pretty boy get home, ya. He look like he's gonna fall down where he stands."

"Thanks," Riku smirked. The comment was unfortunately closer to the truth that he liked. He had to get home.

He almost didn't make it. By the time, he walked through the front door, he felt, and probably looked, like a zombie. Just lifting his feet was an effort. He somehow reached to the stairs and, pausing before them, he managed to place one foot on the first step when the attack finally hit.

He fell against the steps, trying to control his decent to remain as quiet as possible. The last thing he needed was for one of his parents to find him like this. He bit his knuckles hard in an effort to distract himself from the gut-wrenching disturbance that had chosen to focus itself along the length of his left side.

"Riku? Is that you?"

_Damn it. _He answered as steadily as he could, "Yeah."

"Where did you go?"

_Don't black out, Riku. _"Sora's."

"Did you eat?"

_Did she have to ask so many questions?_ "Yes," The silver-haired teen hissed through his pain.

"Don't take that tone with your mother!" Suddenly came from upstairs.

He wasn't trying to take any tone! He was simply trying to keep from screaming and remain conscious… Of course, he couldn't tell them that. "Sorry, Mom."

He had to get to his room. It was just up the stairs and ten feet down the hall. Easy… He could certainly do this. He struggled to his feet and took a long, slow breath.

He rushed the steps and bolted past his father's office. He barely heard the man shout something at him but didn't understand it. He was probably telling him not to run in the house.

Darting into his room, he stopped just short of slamming the door shut behind him. He slid his back down along it, gasping. He tried to focus inwardly and somehow mentally will the spasm to stop. Sometimes the effort worked, other times it did not.

Thankfully, this turned out to be one with the positive outcome. While the pain remained, the twitching subsided. Pain, at least, he could deal with.

His satchel sat on the chair at his desk, almost goading him. He knew he had a lot of work to do, but he was simply too exhausted. His teachers were already threatening to contact his parents. Right now, however, that was the absolute least of his concerns.

Riku stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed. Laying flat on his back, he turned his head to stare out the window into the moonless night and blinked away a few tears.

He could not keep doing this. Whatever this was, it was slowly killing him.


	4. Eclipse of Twilight

Chapter 3: Eclipse of Twilight

"Hey, Sora!" Tidus waved him over to the round table around which, he, Selphie and Kairi were sitting. The librarian glared at him and he quietly muttered a sorry before turning back to the girls.

Sora dropped his bag on the floor. There was one advantage to first hour study hall: neglected homework was completed, along with frantic study sessions that made it potentially possible to pass the next period's test. "Hey, guys."

"What's with you?" Selphie frowned, tilting her head, "You look like you've been up all night."

"Yeah, like worse than Riku," Tidus agreed.

"You've seen him today?" Sora nearly shouted.

"No… Don't you two walk together?"

Sora slumped in his chair, "He said his dad was going to take him in."

Kairi quirked a reddish eye brow. _…And Sora hadn't ridden along? _That was odd. Granted, Riku's parents were trying to put some distance between the two boys, stating that their closeness wasn't normal, but if Sora was already there, then he should have at least been offered a ride.

"Huh, well he has first hour with Wakka, and I'll see him next hour so I'll ask." Selphie offered, "He sure has been off lately."

"He looked bad last night," Tidus agreed, giving up on studying and closing his chemistry book. "We were a little worried about leaving him. I wouldn't be surprised if he called out sick today."

Sora looked up sharply. Riku _never_ missed school. Even when he had been going through all of his emotional trouble the first few weeks they'd been back, he had still attended classes everyday. A few times, he had been sent home under protest because the infirmary decided he was too ill to be there.

"As long as he's better by tomorrow," said Selphie with a slight edge. "No one should be sick on their birthday, and after all the hard work we've put into his party…"

"You haven't added more to it, have you?" Sora asked uneasily.

"No." Kairi assured him, placing a hand on his arm, "And I wouldn't worry too much about Riku. It's probably a good thing if he did call out sick. A full day of rest would likely do him good."

"Yeah," Sora agreed, still clearly worried.

"So," Selphie smacked her hands on a small paperback and looked between Sora and Tidus. "Have either of you started the stupid essay for this dumb old book? I swear they pick some of the most awful stories for lit."

"I liked that book!" Kairi protested.

"That's because you like reading," Tidus complained.

"Reading is a wonderful way of expanding your mind and an escape from the ordinary."

Sora quickly tuned them out. He hadn't been able to sleep last night. He knew in his heart something was about to happen. Something terrible was hovering just about them and was about to come crashing down. …And somehow, it had to do with Riku.

Riku kept assuring him that he would be all right, and Sora wanted to believe him but he just couldn't. He had a feeling that even Riku did not know what was happening. For some reason, that made it even more frightening.

"Sora…"

He blinked, "Huh?"

"The bell," Kairi explained, frowning at him. She was already standing, bag slung over her shoulder. "Come on, Sora, you've got to keep focused. You won't do Riku any good if you fall apart."

He looked up at her with large blue eyes. Even she seemed a bit surprised by her choice of words.

"You feel it, too," He whispered. "Something's really wrong."

She twisted some red hair around her finger and bit her lip. "I don't know, Sora. I'm not connected to Riku like you are. I just feel… something's happening to him."

Sora nodded.

"There isn't anything we can do right now," she said firmly. "All we can do is watch. Hopefully, he'll get better on his own and if not…"

"We fix it."

She grinned a little, "Yes."

The warning bell rang and Sora shot up. "Crud, we're gonna be late."

Sora nearly ran into the cafeteria, earning a disciplinary mark from the hall monitor. He didn't care. His eyes scanned the room searching for a familiar head of silver hair. He saw Wakka and Tidus at the usual table but no Riku. He looked around two more times, hoping his best friend was simply avoiding the other two and sitting alone in one of the corners.

No such luck.

With a noticeable slump to his shoulders, the usually optimistic boy joined the two blitzball players. He dropped into a seat across from them letting his bag slid off his shoulder. "Riku didn't come today, did he?"

Wakka shook his head, "No, man. I'm not surprised after seeing him last night, ya."

"Don't worry so much, Sora." Tidus was mixing his food into some unidentifiable mess. "Even Riku's allowed his sick days."

"I guess."

"Look," Tidus dropped his voice so that only Wakka and Sora were likely to hear him. "I know how much you worry about Riku since the whole, you know… darkness thing, but you have got to chill. He'll be fine. This is nothing."

Wakka nodded agreement, "Yeah. He's only human. We all get sick sometimes, ya?"

They were totally right. He knew he was probably making a bigger deal about this than he should, but that damned feeling just would not go away. "Yeah… You're right."

"So we let him slide today, but if he's still sick tomorrow, we gang up and kick his ass," Tidus grinned.

"I think Selphie will get there long before we do." The eldest of the three chuckled, "She's really worked hard on his birthday party, man."

Sora smiled but it lacked its usual brightness. "Yeah, they really went out of their way to make sure Riku would have fun."

"Riku never has been big on the birthday thing," Tidus set his spoon down with a laugh. "Man, his parents always threw him the best parties. I don't know if it's cause he was adopted or what, but they just went all out."

"He hated those parties," Sora's voice was distant. "He played along, but I knew he wasn't happy. He had more fun with the sleepovers after them."

"Well he should enjoy this one. We made sure of it."

Sora hoped so, but simply nodded. Lunch was almost over and he hadn't eaten a thing. That was rather unusual for him. He normally ate like a starving animal, but he simply wasn't hungry at all today.

"I'm heading out," Tidus downed his milk, "Gotta stop by Coach's office for that stupid health form."

"Oy, I need that too." Wakka stood, collecting his garbage, "Eat something, Sora. We'll see ya after school."

The rest of the day dragged by, all Sora wanted was to go to Riku's house and make sure he was all right. He knew how pathetic it was, but he didn't care. He hadn't paid any attention to his classes. He knew he failed his test in trig, and he received a detention in history.

When he met up with the group outside school, he was about ready to snap.

"Hey, guys. Love to hang out but, uh, I told my mom I'd be home early."

"Don't even try, Sora." Selphie folded her arms, "You're not going to Riku's. Let him rest."

"Yeah, man." Wakka tapped his shoulder.

Tidus laughed, "I think you can go one day without seeing him."

"What do you know?" He muttered, not fully aware of what he was saying.

Kairi furrowed her brow. "I have to pick up some things for the party. Sora, you come with me. The rest of you do your projects and meet us at my house at six. We'll bring pizza back."

The three others nodded agreement and headed off. They knew Kairi was trying to distract them from Sora's odd behavior, but let it go. Sora, Riku, and Kairi, while still their friends, were very different now. Often times they only seemed to understand one another.

"Come on," She nudged Sora and they began walking. "We'll check on Riku on the way to the market."

"Thank you, Kairi," His voice was soft.

"You're welcome."

They walked quietly to Riku's house. She expected Sora's anxiety to decrease but it only seemed worse. Both of Riku's parents would still be at work, but the trio had long ago learned how to get into each other's houses whenever they wanted.

It was dark and nearly silent inside. The bubbling of the fish tank in the den was the only sound to be heard. Riku lived in one of the larger houses in the area, and his parents were very proud of that fact. They carefully decorated and maintained any room that could be potentially visible to visitors.

Sora never much cared for the place.

Passing the office and the master bedroom, he headed upstairs, followed by Kairi. Riku's door was shut and Sora hesitantly knocked on it.

"Uh, Riku…? You there?" He didn't hear anything and with a quick glance at Kairi, he cracked the door open, "Riku?"

The room was beyond dark. After their return, Riku had put up photographer shutters on his window, blocking out as much light as possible. There wasn't even a diffuse glow unless Riku allowed it. It had troubled Sora from the moment he found out about the alteration to his friend's room.

A shaft of hall light cut through the black, illuminating carpet and the dresser under the window. Sora stepped in and turned immediately to the left, with Kairi close behind. It took a moment for both of their eyes to adjust.

Soft, wheezy breathing could be heard from within the mountain of black bedding. Silver hair was barely visible, spread out on the pillow. He was laying with his back turned to them and it was obvious he'd been having a fitful sleep.

Sora glanced at Kairi, who was biting her lip. She nodded once and Sora sat on the edge of the large bed. He reached out and gently shook his silver-haired friend, "Riku… Riku, wake up."

It took a few moments, but Riku eventually stirred. He let out a low groan as if he were hung over or ill. He moved slowly, turning his head but not opening his eyes, "Sora?"

Sora grinned in relief, "I was starting to think you weren't gonna wake up."

"Ugh, what time is it?" He choked out.

"Three-thirty."

"Kairi here too?"

"Yeah," answered Kairi. "Do you want some water?"

"That'd be great."

She left the room and Sora stared at his best friend. "You look like a Nobody kicked your butt."

"Right now I feel like it." Riku breathed out, "I was hoping a day of sleep would help."

"And?"

"I'm stiff," answered Riku neutrally. Actually, he did feel somewhat better. There wasn't any of that strange twisting sensation inside him, and the pain that had been racking his body was a dull ache.

"Here," Kairi returned with a glass of water. She stood next to Riku's head and held the glass to him as he slowly sat up, sheet and blankets falling partially to the side. She giggled as he took the water from her. "I hope you at least have boxers on."

"I wasn't expecting to wake up to a pretty girl in my bedroom." He took a long, slow drink.

"See? I told you you were pretty," Kairi grinned at Sora.

"Hey!"

Riku coughed a laugh. The two always made him feel better. In all his travels, he'd only met one other that made him feel this light. He wondered what happened to that man.

"Are you feeling any better?" asked Kairi seriously.

"Yeah," He replied honestly. He smirked at her, "Don't worry. I'll be at that thing of yours tomorrow that you claim is being done for me."

The girl looked hurt, "It _is_ for you!"

"Of course it is… and the cake will have my name to prove it."

She thumped his shoulder and it only hurt a little. He shifted a bit to the side and she suddenly frowned at him, "What is that?"

"Huh?"

"It looks like a really large bruise on your stomach." Now Sora was trying to look.

"It's nothing," Riku repositioned himself and the blankets, "Just shadows from the sheets, see?"

Kairi didn't look quite convinced, but she nodded once. Sora narrowed his eyes a moment but quickly grinned. Riku couldn't believe that Sora believed him. Was he that convincing, or was Sora that gullible?

"Well, now that we know you're alive and okay, we can go take care of some things, right Sora?" Kairi gave him a pointed look.

"Uh, yeah…" He looked uneasily at Riku.

"Go, Sora; I'm fine." Riku reassured him, "I'm going to try to get some homework done and sleep some more. By tomorrow, I'll be golden."

Sora nodded, slowly standing. "Okay. I'll be here after lunch tomorrow."

"Got it," Riku acknowledged. "Get going you two."

"Come on, Sora." Kairi got up, patting Riku's leg, or at least, what she hoped was his leg. "Let's leave Riku to his dreams."

Riku made a noise in the back of his throat, "More likely nightmares."

"Oh, I'm sure there have been a few good ones with pretty clouds in them," She said over her shoulder as she pushed Sora out of the room. "Ta."

Riku stared after them even after the door shut. _Ta?_ Where had that come from? More importantly, what was with the little comment about dreams with clouds? What made clouds-

He smiled to himself. He had forgotten how observant Kairi could be. He really should have known she'd figure it out. He'd have to remember to get her something nice.

He knew he should try to get some homework done while he was still feeling relatively normal. Who knew how long this respite would last, but he really needed to make sure he was up for tomorrow. However, he instead curled back up in his bed.

Maybe this time he would dream of Cloud.

Sora bounded into Riku's room with his usual overabundant energy. He literally bounced onto the bed, smile wide and blue eyes brighter than the sky itself. "Happy birthday, Riku!"

"Seiya let you have sugar cereal, didn't she?" Riku smirked from his desk. He had only gotten up a few hours before and after forcing himself to eat a bit; he decided getting some if his missed work done before Sora arrived was a good idea.

Thankfully, aside from that strange stirring sensation in his gut, he seemed to be doing well today. He didn't dare believe he was getting better. The fact that the bruising had spread over most of his chest overnight told him that he wasn't, but the fates or whatever powers that be, must have decided that for this one day he'd be all right.

"No," Sora stuck out his tongue, "And I didn't eat candy after lunch either. I'm just really excited. Today is going to be great!"

"It's just a day, Sora."

"No it isn't!" The brunette pouted, "This is the more than just a day, cause it's the one you where born on."

Riku pursed him lips, fighting a smile. No matter how bad he felt emotionally, physically, or spiritually, Sora _always_ found a way to lighten his mood. It was an unbelievably good feeling to have someone say _I'm glad you were born_.

…Especially considering his recent health.

"So what have you got planned to keep me busy until the big event?" He shut his physics book. Hopefully, it was something simple. He didn't want to push his body anymore than necessary.

"Well, I wasn't sure how you'd be feeling, so I kinda thought maybe we'd go to a movie or something." Sora shrugged, "Or we could just hang out and play games."

"That sounds good, the movie I mean."

"Do you want to walk or do you think your dad would take us?" Sora asked with a touch of hope in his voice. Riku's family had one of the few cars on the island. It was a rather large status symbol.

"I think I can get him to drive." Riku stood, stretching taut muscles. "It's not like they did anything for my birthday. Least he could do is give us a ride."

"They didn't do anything?" Sora whispered with a frown.

Riku shrugged, "I don't mind. I've been saying for years not to make a big deal about it. I guess this year they finally listened. Mom gave me a hug and made blueberry muffins, but that was it."

"Oh," Sora seemed really upset about this. He just didn't understand Riku sometimes.

As it was, not only did Riku's dad drive, but he also gave them enough munny for the movie and anything they could possibly want from the concession stand. He gave Riku an uneasy smile as he got out, told them to have fun, and drove off.

Riku looked after the car for a moment. Suddenly, he wished he had said something to him. "Come on, Sora. I don't want to wait two hours for the next showing."

The movie was lousy, but Riku had half-expected that. Most of the action flicks that had been coming out were all explosions and chase scenes with no plot. It didn't stop him from seeing them.

"So now what?" Riku folded his arms, quietly doing some isolated muscle stretches. Sitting that long had made him achy. "It's four now. How long are you supposed to keep me occupied?"

"Until six," Sora inhaled the rest of his drink and threw it away in one of the outside trash bins. "Let's go to my house. My mom wants to see you sometime today."

"All right."

Sora's mom was on him the moment he walked in the door. She had her arms thrown around him and was gushing on about her babies growing up too fast. It hurt… how tightly she embraced him, but he grit his teeth and bared it. Sometimes he wished Seiya were his mother.

"Now I know Sora said there was going to be all kinds of things at Kairi's later, so for once I listened and didn't make anything, but next week I want you to arrange a time with your parents and I'll make a cake for a family party."

"Seiya, you don't-"

"Uht!" She cut off his protest, "Your mom and I already talked about it. That's why she herself didn't do anything today."

Would have been nice if she had told _him_. He felt oddly happy that his mom hadn't completely ignored his birthday. He may have not wanted a fuss but some kind of acknowledgment would have been nice.

They listened to Seiya ramble on a while longer as she tried to get Riku's input on exactly what kind of cake he wanted. Fatigue was tugging at him, but he pushed it aside. He made sure to sit as calmly and relaxed as possible while he answered any question presented to him.

When the conversation turned to Sora and what the plan was for the night… Riku soon turned it out. A minor headache was forming along with the weariness, but he would _not_ let this affect him.

"You look tired, Riku." Seiya suddenly brushed aside his bangs, "And pale. You sure you're feeling better?"

"Yeah," He spoke firmly, ignoring Sora's concerned expression. "Guess I'm still a bit worn out."

"Well, don't push it. We don't want you getting sick at Kairi's party."

He laughed, "See, Sora? Even your mom knows whose party this really is."

Sora jutted out his lower lip but said nothing. He knew his protests were unnecessary. Plus, they wouldn't believe him anyway. Heck, he didn't really believe them.

"You two better get going. It's almost six."

The walk to Kairi's house was quiet. Riku conserved his energy as best as he could. He caught Sora's worried glances and smiled at the younger one reassuringly. "I'm fine, Sora. Just a little tired is all."

Sora nodded, not really convinced, but he didn't want Riku to waste the energy arguing about it. They approached the large house, mansion really, and he grinned a bit. "This will be fun, Riku. I know you'll like it."

"I'm just happy being with my friends, Sora." Riku replied with more emotion than even he believed. Where had that come from? "Come on, let's get this party started."

An hour later, Riku watched from the marble patio table as Sora cannon balled into the pool. He, Tidus and Wakka had been challenging each other to perform various stunts going into the water. A few other members of the blitzball team had come and were joining in.

Selphie was sitting at the pool's edge, feet in the water. She had a small group of admirers as a result of her rather small bikini. There were some other girls around that Riku didn't really know. There were probably about thirty people here.

Kairi came over with two pina coladas and seated herself beside him. She too wore a bikini, although not nearly as revealing as Selphie's. She placed one of the glasses before him, giggling. "Sora's having fun."

"Doesn't he always?" Riku turned his gaze away from the boy. "Thanks for doing this, Kai."

"You're welcome," She removed the sunglasses from her face to scrutinize him. "I'm just glad you're well enough to come out."

"So am I."

One of the girls called out for her and she grinned, "Watch my drink, will you?"

"Sure. If you go in the pool be sure to dunk Sora for me."

She laughed, "Got it."

She ran off and Riku leaned his head back; he really hated sitting out of everything like this. He'd hung around with the guys at the edge of the pool for a while, but the heat had begun to make him feel faint and his chest had begun hurting a bit.

Sora had checked on him a while ago, dripping all over him. He sat and drank a smoothie with him before downing a burger and returning to the pool. The pain started in just after that.

Closing his eyes, he took a long drawn out breath. If he could just hold out a few more hours…

"Hey, Riku! Check this out!" Sora shouted, standing on the edge of the pool. Once he knew he had the silver-haired teen's attention he did a back flip off of it, twisting on the apex and appeared to hover for a second before straightening out and dropping like a stone feet first.

When he resurfaced, shaking out his spikes Riku smirked at him, "Show off."

Sora beamed at him, and Kairi chose that moment to shove his head back under the water's surface. Sora shot back up sputtering, shooting death glares in Kairi's direction. Riku laughed loudly, watching as Kairi tried frantically to swim away from the vengeance-seeking brunette.

Then he froze. Something inside just… _snapped_ ...and then he couldn't breathe. Whatever had been twisting around in his abdomen seemed to burst apart. His face twisted in sheer agony and he clutched at his chest.

No one appeared to notice this. Gathering all the strength and focus he could, he got to his feet and managed to get inside the house. He clung to the wall, moving as far from the patio door as he could.

Still gasping, he pressed up against the cool surface of the wall near the corner. He then turned his efforts inward, trying desperately to regain control.

"Riku?" Sora's voice called hesitantly, laced with concern. He saw his best friend in the corner and wide, frightened blue eyes met narrowed, resigned green.

Then Riku fell to the floor in an unconscious heap.


	5. Of Curses and Clouds

Chapter 4: Of Curses and Clouds

Sora stood, frozen in shock, unable to believe what he had just witnessed. This was not real, it couldn't be. Then motion suddenly returned and his feet propelled him forward. He slid to his knees before the taller boy.

"Riku! Riku, come on. Don't do this to me!" His voice was panicky.

He was about to start screaming for help when he felt an insistent tugging on his sleeve. "Sora, we have to move him. No one else can see."

He knew that slightly squeaky, high-pitched voice anywhere. "Your Majesty!"

King Mickey motioned him to be quiet. "Take him upstairs. We can't let the others see him."

Sora nodded once, trusting the demure king. He stared at Riku's lifeless form. He couldn't do anything until he knew… _There_. Riku took a slow deliberate breath. He wasn't dead and that was good enough for now.

"Sora? Is everything-" Kairi's eyes widened. "What happened?"

"Kairi," Mickey spoke rather authoritatively, "Make sure no one else comes in here."

She nodded in a jerky motion, clearly scared. She took a deep breath and schooled her features into something passing for calmness before she stepped back out through the sliding glass door. They could hear her calling for Selphie.

"Sora."

"Right," He was thankful for all those years of wielding the Keyblade as he somehow managed to heft Riku's dead weight, bracing one of his arms over his shoulders much as he had after the fight with Xemnas.

He hauled the limp body over to the staircase and carefully made his way up. He did not know the layout of the mayor's mansion very well, but if he was correct, then the first bedroom to the right was a guest room.

Mickey had followed him up and, upon seeing where the teen stopped, darted forward and opened the door. Sora had remembered correctly, and he lugged Riku over to the bed. It took a bit of effort but he got his friend laid out on the mattress, head resting on the fancy pillow shams.

He immediately turned on the mouse king. "What's happened to Riku?"

Mickey did not answer right away. He had hopped up on the bed and was knelling beside Riku's head, seriously looking over the boy. He touched a few places on Riku's body as if checking his vitals. The last thing he did was rest his hand over the unconscious boy's heart and close his eyes.

After a long moment, he sighed in apparent relief.

"King Mickey…?" Sora got his attention with a shaky voice.

Mickey looked up at him with large sad eyes. "I'm sorry, Sora. Riku should be okay."

Sora had tears in his eyes and his lower lip trembled. "What is it? It has to be bad if you're here."

Mickey pursed his mouth, seemingly considering his words. He glanced back at Riku. "He's in a very deep sleep. Hopefully, it will be enough…"

"What?" Sora nearly shouted. "Enough to what? What's happening?"

"It's a very long story, Sora," He began slowly, "And I think Kairi should be present for it because I don't want to explain it twice."

"I'll fill her in. Now tell me!" Sora glared with fierce determination. He was tired of people holding back information from him, especially about Riku.

Mickey met that glare. He knew just how determined Sora could be and looking into those blue eyes, he understood that Sora was not going to accept anything but a full explanation. The diminutive king decided it was best to get the basics out now.

He sat cross-legged on the bed. "Riku has been cursed. He has been for a long time now. Not even he knew of it. I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this but," he paused. "I should have known there was no other outcome."

"Cursed?" Sora stared at Riku's relaxed face, "By who?"

"Maleficent."

"But, why?" Sora turned back to the king, confusion written on his face. "And when? I thought she liked him."

"She did. At least as much as she liked anyone, which _is_ the reason for it." Mickey seemed to realize this did not make much sense for he suddenly shook his head and resettled himself. "She cursed him after he left. I'm not entirely sure of her reasoning. I'm guessing she felt either he knew too much, or she was simply furious at him for leaving. Either way, she decided he was expendable but she knew she couldn't just outright kill him."

Sora grinned, "Damn right she couldn't."

Mickey grinned a little himself. Then the somber expression returned. "The curse was supposed to kill him on his seventeenth birthday."

"Wait," interrupted Sora. The relevance behind what Mickey was saying finally sunk in. "So Riku is supposed to _die_ today?"

The mouse nodded.

"Oh, no!" Sora shot up. He started pacing around in an agitated manner. "No, no, no… He is not dying! No way! Not happening."

"I don't believe it will," Mickey broke into the rant. "It looks like my counter spell took."

Sora stopped. "Counter spell?"

"Yes. Instead of death, his body has gone into a stasis mode," Mickey explained. At Sora's blank stare, he re-phrased his statement, "A very deep sleep."

"Oh," Sora frowned, returning his attention to Riku. Looking at him, one would swear he was dead. His breath came in slow, spaced out draws. Was he even taking in enough oxygen to survive? "How long will he be like this?"

Mickey was reluctant to answer. "As long as necessary."

"What?"

Kairi burst into the room then, followed by Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka. She managed to keep them in the hall and as she shut the door again she assured them that she would come straight back out.

She turned and hurried over to the bedside. She dropped to the mattress and took Riku's limp hand. Her other hand reached up to brush at his bangs. "What happened?"

"He's asleep," answered Sora stupidly.

"Well I can see _that_, Sora."

"Riku's under a spell."

"He's cursed?" Kairi looked over her shoulder at Mickey. "Maleficent cursed him?"

Sora gaped, shocked that she had figured out that much so quickly.

"Yes," Mickey nodded once.

"So what do we do to break it?"

Sora stared at the girl. He knew there was a reason he liked her. She always remained so focused. After only knowing the situation for two minutes, she had already moved on to how to fix it.

"First, I need to explain the nature of the curse. Then you'll understand what has to be done," Mickey stated, sounding much calmer than he had with Sora.

She turned her body to face the mouse king fully, still grasping Riku's hand. "This is going to take a while, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Hang on," She released the hand and stood. She slipped out the door and the faint sound of agitated voices ensued. Nearly five minutes passed before she came back in. She resettled herself on the bed before retaking Riku's hand, and nodding for Mickey to begin.

Sora dropped to the floor, leaning against the wall. He fidgeted a bit, wanting to be doing something, anything but just sitting here. He needed to wake Riku up. He had to find a way to lift the curse.

Mickey sighed, "All right, there are some things you need to know first. You aren't going to believe me, but I promise you everything I tell you is true. It really is an unbelievable story…

"Riku isn't from this world."

"What?" Sora straightened.

"He was brought here as an infant," Mickey continued. "He was adopted privately, no one knowing where he originally came from."

"Like me," Kairi murmured.

"Whelp, it's similar." Mickey rubbed his absent chin. "I'm still not too sure how you wound up here. My guess is that when Xehanort opened the heart of the world, it defensively sent you away to protect you. Riku thought you ended up here specifically to kind of activate the awakening of the Keybearers."

Kairi bit her lip, but nodded as if this all made perfect sense. Maybe to her it did. "Riku really knew a lot more about everything than he ever let on."

"Well he was the _real _Keyblade Master," mumbled Sora.

Mickey gave Sora a hard look, "That isn't necessarily true, Sora; and Riku never felt deserving of that role. In the end the Keyblade chose you."

"I know," said the brunette. He understood that they would probably never know just how all of this was originally supposed to work. "So…is Riku from Radiant Garden too?"

"No," replied Mickey, easily falling back into his explanation. "The world Riku comes from is one which was never restored. Its inhabitants simply called it The Planet. The theory is that The Planet was already so badly damaged before the Heartless came, that it could not be restored."

"Like the world Aerith and Cloud and them came from?" asked Sora.

The small one smiled, "It's the same one."

"Riku's from the same world as Cloud and all them?" The boy's eyes widened. "No way."

"Yes…he was sent away shortly after his birth."

"How?" Kairi frowned, "I thought the worlds were sealed. They couldn't have been connected that early on, could they?"

"There are ways around barriers, if you know them… and these people knew them."

"Why was he taken away?" questioned Sora.

"To save him." Mickey snorted, "Though I guess that didn't work out so well in the end. I suppose what did happen was still better than the alternative."

Both teenagers stared at him and he realized that he had drifted a bit off course. He pursed his thin mouth as he tried to think of the simplest way to explain this part. "Riku…Isn't like you. That is to say, his existence didn't come about the normal way.

"I realize this will be difficult to understand. _I _can't even fully grasp it, but these are the facts: Riku's birth was a follow-up to an experiment, a rather long and complicated one. Two scientists, working for the Shinra Electric Power Company, wanted to re-create a long lost race of humans called the Ancients. They found remains of a being they believed to be one of them.

"The Ancients had a type of symbiotic relationship with The Planet, able to communicate with it and access the power of the Lifestream, The Planet's blood or living force if you will. The exact reason for this I don't know," Mickey shook his head.

"Wait a minute…" Sora had the distant look of one lost in thought. "Aerith mentioned some of this before. She's one of those Ancients."

"Yes."

"So, did she know…?" Kairi left the sentence unfinished.

"No."

Sora's back straightened, "Wait! Sephiroth! Wasn't he supposed to be one of those experiments?"

"You know more than I thought." Mickey looked impressed, "Where did you hear that?"

"I overheard Cloud talking to Leon about it. He said something about Mako and something called the Jenova Project."

"Mako is a condensed version of the Lifestream. Shinra had a force of elite troops called SOLDIER, all of which were enhanced with Mako making them superhuman. Cloud also went through this, but under much different circumstances."

"So what's the Jenova Project?" asked Kairi quietly. She was still gripping Riku's hand, lightly running her thumb along it. It was almost as if she felt he needed the contact.

"Jenova is the name they gave to the being they believed to be the last Ancient. Professors Gast and Hojo took a living fetus and before birth, injected it with cells taken from the remains and bolstered them with as much Mako as possible. The cells took, and were absorbed flawlessly into the child. After he was born, they believed they had their resurrected Ancient."

"Sephiroth, right?" Sora guessed.

"Correct. However, around this time Gast discovered the last true remaining Ancient. They had been hiding in the mountains for years. She explained to him that what they had found was not an Ancient, but what the Ancients called, the Calamity from the Sky. It was an alien life form that had come to destroy The Planet."

"That explains Seph…" The brunette muttered.

"Yes," Mickey actually grinned a little. "Now as soon as Gast learned of this, he decided to put an end to the project but Hojo wouldn't have it. Gast supposedly retired and disappeared. Sephiroth was born and Hojo continued his experiments. He tried injecting various members of SOLDIER with the Jenova cells but they all died. Apparently, Sephiroth only survived due to the cells being present before birth."

"Riku's another Sephiroth?" Kairi asked bluntly, piecing together where this tale was heading.

"Yes, but with a significant difference. See, as Sephiroth grew, Hojo and Shinra had to keep him tightly controlled. He would randomly lash out in bloodthirsty rages and even as a youth seemed to suffer minor fits of insanity. Keeping him to a strict routine and within rigid military guidelines kept him in line.

"He was made general at a very young age and was everything they wanted him to be, highly intelligent, physically superior to all those around him, socially distant but extremely honorable. The people loved him.

"Since Sephiroth worked so well, it was decided to make another. However, this time Hojo decided to test out two new theories of his." Mickey sighed, and then remained quiet for a bit, it seemed as if he had finished speaking.

"What did they do to Riku?" Sora spoke slowly, almost deliberately. There was an intense look in his clear blue eyes.

"The important one is that Hojo figured out a way to delay the activation of the Jenova cells. Rather than have Riku have to deal with them throughout his life, and therefore become potentially mentally unstable, he set it up so the cells would begin awakening at the onset of puberty. That way, his mind would better adapt to the changes."

"What changes?"

Kairi let out a slow breath, "Jenova's cells have a will of their own, don't they?"

"I don't know," Mickey shook his large head. "Rufus wasn't sure either."

"Rufus?" Both teenagers frowned.

"Rufus Shinra, the one I got this information from. It was his father that authorized all of this. He only knows what he was able to get out of those files. We know Hojo had much more information than he turned over, but what happened to it is anyone's guess."

"But they believe the cells are what made Sephiroth go crazy," Kairi concluded.

"They were a major factor, yes. The only one who would know for sure is Sephiroth himself." The mouse chuckled without mirth, "I don't know about you, but I don't have any desire to ask Sephiroth about it."

Something in Sora's expression shifted but he said nothing.

"Apparently, while they were experimenting with the cells they realized that when the cells were separated, they instinctively tried to come back together. The further apart the more strongly they reacted. Hojo decided to send the child away believing that when the cells began waking up, the boy would become driven to return. If this happened it would prove his Reunion theory."

"That was why he wanted to build the raft." Kairi's eyes lit up as things began falling into place. "Why he wanted to leave so badly. The cells were pushing him to do it."

Mickey nodded, "Some how, Xehanort found out about Jenova and Riku. He used that to his advantage, showing Riku the door to the heart of Destiny Islands."

Sora was slowly catching up. "This… This is waaay too much. Everything…"

Mickey smiled sympathetically, "We're almost finished."

The teen laughed. "Oh, something tells me we're no where near finished."

Kairi studied him a moment, Sora was literally shaking with anxiety. They needed to speed this up. "Let's move on to the curse. What exactly was Maleficent trying to accomplish other than the obvious?"

"From what I've pieced together, she set the curse to cause a rapid activation and multiplying of the Jenova cells. They would completely overwhelm Riku's body, strangling it and killing him."

"But you stopped that, right?"

"No," Mickey shook his head sadly. "Her magic is too strong, and there's the added problem that she simply took what was happening naturally and accelerated it.

"What I was able to do is arrange it so that the moment the curse took full effect; he passed into a sort of coma. This slowed all cellular growth to a near standstill."

"So to live, he's gotta stay like this forever?" Sora whispered, staring at the floor.

The mouse king shook his head once more, "This only slowed the process. The Jenova cells are still there and multiplying. There's no way to know how long this will work."

"So he's still gonna die?"

"I have an idea…" Mickey stated slowly, "I don't know if it will work for certain, but it's the only thing I've got."

"Tell me," Sora nearly demanded.

"Whelp, first we gotta find a way to stop the cells from multiplying. Then we gotta remove the excess, giving them to another."

Kairi nodded once.

Sora appeared hopeful for the first time in the conversation, "So…all we gotta do it figure out how to stop the growth."

"And find someone to take the cells."

"I'll take them," Sora's voice left no room for questioning.

Mickey sighed, "You can't."

The boy glared at him, "Why not?"

"Your body won't be able to handle them. You'd die."

"But Riku would be okay."

Kairi turned her violet eyes on him, "You get that idea out of your head right now, Sora. If Riku heard you say that, he would beat you down so fast you wouldn't know he hit you."

Sora clearly wanted to argue, but instead he took a sharp breath and held it in, even while speaking, "Then who has to do it?"

"We find someone who also has the cells and they take enough into themselves to stabilize Riku," Mickey carefully explained.

"Somehow I doubt Sephiroth will co-operate," Sora ground out.

"I wasn't thinking Sephiroth."

"Cloud," Kairi grinned at the king.

Mickey nodded, "He is the only one to accept Jenova cells into his body and tolerate them. I believe he would be able to shoulder the extra amount. However…there's a catch."

"What?" asked both teens.

"See, since the cells are a fundamental part of Riku, they in essence are a living piece of him. By taking on his cells, the receiver, whoever it is, will become permanently connected to Riku. It would forge a rather intimate bond."

Kairi bit her lip, "So the question is whether or not Cloud will agree."

"Riku's not gonna like being bonded to someone like that," commented Sora, "I think he barely tolerates me most of the time."

"Oh, I don't think he'll mind if it's Cloud," the girl grinned mischievously. Mickey seemed to understand what she was getting at, for he also smiled a little.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora demanded.

"Honestly, Sora," said Kairi with an exasperated sigh, "You can be so dense sometimes."

"What?" Sora demanded, clearly getting angry.

"Haven't you noticed how quiet Riku gets when you talk about Cloud? The way his expression softens, or the little smile he gets?" The girl listed out for him. When it became clear that Sora still was not following, she sighed in vexation, "Riku's totally in love with Cloud!"

"Huh?" Sora blinked. Where in the world had Kairi gotten that notion? Riku was not in love with Cloud. He barely knew him. People didn't just fall in love over night.

Then he remembered Riku's soft murmur as he slept two nights prior. The older boy had practically nuzzled his hand as he said Cloud's name. Moreover, he _did _get a little distant when they talked about him…

Sora's eyes widened as the idea fully settled in his brain, "Oh, man! I think you're right!"

Mickey gave him a bemused look, but Kairi had already returned her focus to Riku. She brushed his hair off his forehead again. "The question is how does Cloud feel about him?"

"That, I do not know," Mickey frowned.

"So we find him and ask." Sora jumped to his feet, ready to race out the door.

"Hold on, Sora," The king advised.

"There isn't time!" protested Sora. "Every minute we waste here, Riku gets worse!"

"I know but we can't just go running off any more." Mickey held up a hand, "We don't even know where Cloud is."

"Huh? Isn't he on Radiant Garden?"

"Last I heard, no. He hadn't returned from the fight with Sephiroth." Mickey sighed, "For all we know, he's dead."

"He's not," Sora spoke firmly as he held his hand to his chest. "I would know if he was dead."

Neither Mickey nor Kairi doubted that.

"All right, so we go to Radiant Garden see if Cloud's there. If not, I'll search every world I can get to until I find him." The brunette's jaw was set and there would be no arguing with him, "And when I find him, I'll drag his butt back here and make him save Riku."

Kairi studied him closely. "You can't make him do anything, Sora."

"He has to," Sora fixed his eyes on the near lifeless form of his best friend, "I won't let Riku die."

Kairi and Mickey glanced at each other. They both understood that there was no guarantee that anything they could do would save Riku. Even if Cloud agreed, and there was nothing to promise he would, this was all simply theory.

Kairi bit her lip. "All right, Sora. We'll go to Radiant Garden and see what we can discover. If he isn't there, we'll sit down and decide the next step."

"Someone is going to have to stay with Riku," stated Mickey. "He needs to be watched carefully."

"And we have to keep him somewhere," Kairi added with a thoughtful look on her face. "I have an idea…"

Mickey and Sora watched her stand and go to the door. She opened it and leaned her head out, "You can come now."

It sounded s though a small stampede was coming down the hall. Kairi jumped out of the way, resuming her spot as Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka poured into the room. They lined up before the bed, staring at Riku.

"Oh my gosh!" Both of Selphie's hands came to her face, "Is he dead?"

"Don't be stupid, Selph," Tidus chastised though the expression on his face was uncertain.

"What happened?" asked Wakka.

"He's under a spell," Kairi explained, "We need your help."

The three nodded.

"First, meet King Mickey."

Three heads turned to the humanoid mouse now standing on the bed. There was a stunned silence for a moment that Mickey broke by giving them a cheery wave. "Hiya."

"Oh, you're so cute!" gushed Selphie.

Tidus hit her, "Dude! You don't call a king cute!"

Wakka shook his head and held out his hand, "It's nice to meet you, ya."

Mickey grinned and took the hand, "I wish it were under better circumstances."

"What do you need us to do?" Selphie became unusually serious.

"We need to find a place to keep Riku until we can help him. We also need you to keep a really close eye on him because he's going to get sicker," replied Kairi.

"There's a blitzball tournament on the next island…" Tidus slowly spoke. "We were supposed to go…but obviously we can't now. We can tell the couch something came up, and our parents will still think we're with them."

"We could tell Riku's parents that we finally convinced him to join the team, ya," added Wakka. "Then they'll think he's with us. That will give you a week before we need to think of another excuse for Riku's disappearance, ya."

"And the two of you," Selphie nodded to Sora and Kairi, "Came with to cheer him on!"

Kairi nodded. She knew they would help. "Now we just gotta find a place to keep him."

Sora had returned his intense gaze to Riku. "My house… We tell my mom the truth."

Everyone looked at him. Mickey blinked. "You sure about that?"

"Yeah. If anyone's going to believe us, it's her."

The other four teenagers agreed. They all began hashing out details and Mickey listened to them with a large smile on his face. He shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. It never ceased to amaze him how far these kids would go to protect each other.

"All right," Kairi stood. She took Sora in a one-armed embraced and smiled reassuringly at him. "Let's go save Riku."


	6. Bonds of Friendship: Old and New

Chapter 5: Bonds of Friendship: Old and New

The conversation with Seiya went far easier than anyone had expected. Mickey and Selphie stayed behind with Riku, while the rest went to Sora's house. The second the brunette walked into his kitchen, the woman knew something was wrong.

After Sora and Kairi carefully explained everything that had occurred over the past two years, she simply stood and then whacked her son on the head. After cussing him out for not telling her any of this sooner, she immediately switched her focus to Kairi and began asking what she could do for Riku. Kairi gave her a brief overview of the situation, and Seiya started adding little details to the plan, sending Sora, Tidus, and Wakka to collect Riku and bring him to the house.

Back at Kairi's, they snuck in through the back so they would not have to explain to her guardian why she wasn't with them. They didn't run into the mayor too often but when they did, he tended to like talking to them at length. Security did not even bat an eye at them anymore; most of them were simply amused by the teenagers' antics.

They ducked into the room to see Mickey and Selphie carefully looking over Riku's body.

"Do you see any more spots?" Mickey asked softly, worry written on his face.

"No, just that huge one." Selphie shook her head, flipped up hair bobbing. "Do you want us to keep an eye on it?"

"Yes. If it changes at all or more appears, you need to contact me immediately."

"If what changes?" Sora questioned loudly.

Selphie pursed her lips and glanced at the king who only nodded once. She slowly lifted Riku's shirt, "This."

Across the upper abdomen, stretching out to the left was a large purple-black discoloration. It looked like something between a bruise and a dirty spot. It had to be a good ten inches across and five going up.

"Oh, man!" Tidus gaped, "What the heck is that?"

"That's the physical symptom of the Jenova cells unnatural growth," replied Mickey. "Back on their world, the second time Sephiroth tried to return, there was a massive outbreak of this. They called it geostigma."

"So everyone got infected?" Tidus tried to understand, "Is this like a virus or something?"

"No, the few remaining cells in the Lifestream were sent out, presumably through the water supply, consumed by various people, mostly children, and then activated. Their bodies reacted and tried to eliminate the foreign substance causing the stigma."

"But if Riku was born with those cells, they're not foreign, ya?" Wakka pointed out.

"True," The demure figure agreed. "However, this is an unnatural replication of the cells; therefore his body would still have to adjust to them."

"I don't get it," Sora sighed.

"Right now, you don't need to. We need to get moving." Mickey glanced over at the silver haired boy who had become a good friend. He had become very protective of Riku. "We're running out of time."

"Right," Sora nodded. "Uh, we gotta figure out how to move him. Mom knows everything and is willing to do whatever's necessary."

"Good." Mickey looked toward the window. "Whelp, it's getting dark, but not fast enough."

He hopped off the bed and walked to the window. He held up his hand and a wand suddenly appeared. "Let's see…"

He waved the wand in an intricate pattern and waited. The others glanced at one another, having no idea what he was trying to do. When a rumbling sound started, they stared at the little mouse.

Sora grinned, "You have got to teach me that."

Heavy, dark clouds began rolling in, darkening the sky. There were a few flashes of lightning but otherwise it became pitch black. If it were indeed real, there would be one heck of a storm coming in.

"Whoa." Tidus gaped.

"Oh that is so cool!" Selphie exclaimed. Wakka didn't speak, but looked rather impressed.

"It won't actually rain, but everyone's going to think it will," Mickey turned back to the little group.

"Let's get outta here then, ya?" Wakka stepped over to the bed. Selphie moved out of the way and Sora was immediately on the other side. "Selphie, you're front lookout; Tidus, the rear."

Both gave a curt nod, "Right."

Sora and Wakka worked to get the limp form off the bed and each wrapped one of Riku's arms over their shoulders. They carried the burden that was their friend toward the door, which Selphie was already holding open and motioning them through.

They only came across one of the security guys and at his raised eyebrow, Selphie giggled. "Someone gave the birthday boy a bit of a surprise in his drink."

The man laughed. "You teenagers and your booze. You need any help getting him home?"

"Oh, no. We've got it covered. Hopefully we can get him in without his parents finding out."

"Have him sleep it off at Sora's." The guard opened the door for them. "Its closer and I doubt his parents will think anything of it."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Selphie agreed as the boys passed her to go out. "Well, see ya."

"Get home before the rain comes."

"Will do!"

They hurried across the yard. Sora shot the girl a dirty look, "I can't believe you said that!"

"It was the best excuse I could come up with!" She hissed back.

"Can we argue about this later?" whispered Tidus loudly. "Where did Mickey go?"

"Over here," A soft, high-pitched voice called from the shrubs at the edge of the yard.

"Oi, Riku's heavy, ya." Wakka grunted, re-hoisting the boy. "And you got him upstairs by yourself?"

"Well, I did have to drag him a little…," confessed Sora.

The little group hurried their steps, anxiously looking about. They made it to Sora's house in fifteen minutes, which was exceptionally good timing, considering the burden they bore. It was a good thing that they were all rather athletic.

Kairi must have been keeping a look out, because the door was open and waiting for them as they came up the front step. "He's going in your room."

"My room?" asked Sora dumbly.

"Well you're not going to be using it."

"Oh, right."

They toted Riku up to Sora's small bedroom, where the latter's mom was waiting. The moment they had him settled on the bed, Seiya came racing over and sat beside him. She brushed at his hair and her lower lip trembled. "Oh, my poor baby."

"We'll make him better, Mom."

"I know you will, sweetie." She blinked her large blue eyes a few times. "It's just like looking at my own son this way."

Sora pursed his lips and went to his mother. He placed his hands on her shoulders. She glanced up at him before reaching a hand to pat his cheek. Then she turned to the one person in the room she did not know. "What do I need to do, Your Majesty?"

"Whelp, first it's Mickey." The mouse smiled, and then he quickly grew serious again. "Selphie has been given instructions. I need all of you to be looking out for several things. She knows how to contact me."

"You put Selphie in charge?" Tidus snorted his disbelief.

Mickey nodded, "I trust her completely." The girl beamed and stuck her tongue out at the blonde.

"We're gonna do this as fast as possible," Sora told his mom, voice set with determination.

She nodded, twisting to hug him. "Be careful, baby."

The brunette rolled his eyes. "This isn't the first time I've done this, Mom."

"No, but the second you start thinking you're invincible is when you'll get hurt."

"Yes, Mom."

"All right, you three get going."

"Three?" Sora blinked.

"I'm coming with," Kairi stated as though he should have understood this already. He probably should have.

Before Sora could protest, Mickey nodded. "Good…time to move out."

With slightly awkward good-byes, Sora, Mickey, and Kairi headed out to Sora's backyard. Without word, they followed the king to the dock. He quietly explained. "I hid the ship on the play island. Riku had said people rarely went out there."

"Just us," commented Sora with a painful twist in his heart. "And we don't really go out there any more, either."

Kairi squeezed his hand a moment then let him begin untying one of the boats. "We should be fine in one."

Sora agreed. Once finished, he let Kairi and Mickey in first before hopping in and pushing off. He rowed steadily, each occupant of the boat keeping quiet. At the island, Kairi jumped the side and helped pull the little boat in.

With it securely anchored on the beach, Sora followed Mickey out and found himself staring at the tiny key with the bent over Paopu tree to the left connected only by a wooden bridge. Suddenly, all of this was very real to him. "We're gonna be able to save Riku, right?"

His question was met by a moment of silence. He turned and saw Kairi looking at him steadily. She didn't say anything, but Sora understood that expression. He grinned at her, "Let's get going."

The trip was rather short, involving two separate warps. Sora talked to Chip and Dale for the first half-hour or so before they had to get back to work. Mickey spent a majority of the time in quiet thought. Kairi, having never been on a gummi ship before, studied the displays and views outside in slight awe.

The closer they got to Radiant Garden, the more anxious Sora became. The last hour could not pass fast enough. He tapped his fingers on the control panel during the landing and was out of his seat before Mickey had the ship settled. He waited impatiently at the door for Kairi, and then Mickey to arrive.

"Sora," Kairi placed a small hand on his arm. "I know you want to help Riku, but you need to calm down."

"I just want to find Cloud," replied Sora.

"We will."

Mickey opened the door and Sora somehow managed not to dart out before him. He wanted to believe it was his own will power, but knew it was most likely Kairi's restraining grip on him. She did not release him until the king had cleared the ramp.

"So, no one to meet us…" Sora looked around the empty garage, "I wonder where Cid is."

"We didn't announce we were coming," stated Mickey. "It's midday now."

"So they're probably at lunch." Sora headed for the exit. "Which means headquarters."

Kairi exchanged looks with the mouse, who shrugged. "He certainly is determined."

"Yeah, well what good is that going to do us if he gets himself killed?"

"I forgot you haven't traveled with Sora. This is how he always does things."

That explained why he never wanted her to go with him. "We better catch up before he freaks everyone out."

Sora hadn't gotten too far ahead, and had actually stopped to wait for them outside of Merlin's house, which he assumed was still the Restoration Committee's Headquarters. He gave an impatient grin and toed a cobblestone.

"Didn't want to just barge in?" Kairi asked a bit sarcastically. "I thought you were a card carrying member."

She walked up to the door and went right in. Sora appeared close behind her, followed by Mickey. Cid and Yuffie both looked up from the computer.

"What the heck are you doing here?" Yuffie placed her hands on her hips, trying to look stern despite the cheerful tone of the question.

"Don't tell me we got trouble again," Cid muttered around his cigarette.

"Only on a personal level," explained Mickey. "Has Cloud been back?"

"Not that we know of," The middle-aged blonde thumbed his nose.

"No one's seen him since Sephiroth," Yuffie frowned.

"What about Tifa?" Sora inquired.

"Tifa? What about her?" Both were clearly confused. "We haven't seen her since before the Heartless."

"Huh?" Sora's face twisted up. "She was here during the whole Xemnas thing. Kept trying to find Cloud."

"Well that sounds like something she'd do, but none of us ever saw her," commented Cid.

"Why ya looking for Cloud?" Yuffie folded her arms.

"We need his help." Sora simply stated, already heading for the door. "Where's Leon?"

"At the Castle, like always."

Sora opened the door. "Come on, guys."

Kairi bowed a bit to the other two. "Well, uh, it's been nice seeing you again, but we really are in a hurry."

"Oh, don't worry," The ninja girl waved her off. "We're used to Sora running in and out all the time."

Kairi and Mickey ran after Sora. They only slowed a little once they caught up. The Keyblade wielder was moving at a brisk pace, and they knew better than to try to argue with him.

The first place they checked was Ansem's study. No one was there, or in the computer room. After talking to Tron for a minute, Kairi asked to stay behind and search the files for anything she could find about Jenova. She was fairly good with computer hacking and getting into coded files.

This seemed an excellent idea, and they left her with Tron. Sora and Mickey then headed toward what had been the courtyard. That was where they found Leon, pouring over some schematic with a scowl.

He looked up suddenly and the scowl became a frown. "This can't be good."

"We have to find Cloud!" Sora blurted out, unable to hold back any more. His lip trembled as if he were about to cry. "Riku will die if we don't!"

Leon stared blankly for a moment. "What?"

"We have to find Cloud!" repeated Sora. "Riku's really sick and we need Cloud to fix it, but we don't know if he can or if he'd even want to and-"

"Stop," The sable-haired man cut him off. "I have no idea what you're going on about, but it's obviously important."

"Leon, do you know where Aerith is?" Mickey asked, much more calmly than Sora was acting, although there was a definite tone of urgency to his voice.

"She went to drop some things off, and then she was going to go work with Tron." Leon studied Sora for a long moment. He had long ago realized how important Sora's best friend was to him. He folded up the blueprint and began walking. "She should be there by now."

Along the way, Sora rambled on in a disjointed fashion, which Leon could not follow at all. He simply let the boy get it out of his system and figured Mickey would re-explain things once they located Aerith. He really hated seeing Sora like this.

Aerith was indeed in the computer room, locked in an intense conversation with Kairi, whom no one had bothered to mention was here. As they spoke, each would point to various entries on the computer screen.

"Did you find anything?" Sora bolted over.

"Nothing on Riku, but there's a very detailed report on The Planet," answered Kairi. "Ansem definitely had a strong interest in it."

"Half of the information is wrong," added Aerith. "A lot of this sounds like Hojo and Gast's misinterpretations."

Leon glanced at Mickey with a raised eyebrow.

The king sighed and motioned the man toward one of the corners. As Aerith pointed out the flaws in the computer's information, he explained to Leon the full situation. Once finished, Leon blinked and rubbed at his scar.

"So, let me get this straight, Sora's friend Riku is…basically…another Sephiroth."

"Yes."

"And Maleficent, being the vindictive bitch we all know she is, cursed him, but you changed the curse to buy him some time."

"Correct."

"And you think Cloud can somehow help?"

"I don't _think_," Sora butt in, "I _know _he will."

"_Will_?" echoed Leon. He shook his head. "Look, I can't say I know Cloud very well, but I doubt he's going to want anything to do with something involving Sephiroth…outside of making sure the bastard never returns."

"But this is Riku!" Sora nearly shouted. "He knows Riku, and Riku…Riku _really _likes him, so Cloud…well, Cloud should…"

Kairi narrowed her eyes at him. She noted the shy tone he used, as well as the faint coloring of his cheeks.

Mickey laughed. Even Aerith seemed amused.

Leon, however, was not in the mood to indulge in Sora's naïve view of the world. "Just because Riku's in love with Cloud does not mean that Cloud feels anything toward him at all. One-sided love happens all the time, Sora."

"But- How-?" Sora sputtered in disbelief. It was obvious he had never considered that a possibility.

"I'm not saying that's the case," Leon hated seeing Sora this worked up. "But you need to realize this. There is no guarantee that Cloud will help. He can be a rather selfish bastard."

"He's not selfish," corrected Aerith, "A little self-centered, yes."

"Whatever. The point is, he disappeared months ago, no one knows what happened to him, and he hasn't seen fit to bother contacting us to at least tell us that he's okay." A note of anger had crept into his voice.

Aerith frowned, "He has his reasons, Leon."

Leon waved the explanation off.

Rather than get into a debate over it, she sighed and turned back to Sora. "Do you have any idea where you want to start looking?"

The boy shook his head. "He could be anywhere. I thought maybe they ended up back at the Coliseum, but I don't know. No one's seen Sephiroth either."

Aerith tilted her head thoughtfully for a long moment. She studied Sora carefully. As if making up her mind about something, she straightened; "There's someone who knows more about the Jenova project than probably anyone outside Hojo himself. He may also be able to help you locate Cloud."

Mickey apparently knew whom she was referring to; "You know where he is?"

"Cid does."

"Who?" demanded Sora, not liking everyone talking around him.

"Yuffie doesn't know these three are here, and if she sees them, she'll start following," stated Leon. "I'll send Cid here."

Aerith nodded.

"Who are you talking about?" The spiky-haired brunette repeated.

"An old friend of ours." Aerith grinned a bit oddly. "Vincent Valentine."

Kairi's eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, he is alive? Wonderful."

Sora narrowed his eyes at his female best friend.

"Here," She turned toward the computer screen. "Tron, bring up the available information on Vincent Valentine."

"_Of course, User Kairi_." After a moment, a picture appeared along with a rather short listing.

"Here, it'll be easier if you just read it." Kairi moved away. She stood beside Aerith and Mickey stepped up to them.

"Will Vincent be willing to help us?" asked Mickey in a more serious tone than he usually used.

"I believe so. He really keeps on top of things." Aerith folded her arms. "He'll at least be able to answer any lingering questions."

"It still leaves the problem of finding Cloud," noted Kairi.

"Vinny might have a few ideas on that." Cid grumbled around his cigarette. He walked up to the little group; Leon was nowhere in sight. "All of you have to fucking swear you will not repeat what I'm about to tell you to anyone."

Kairi and Mickey nodded. The middle-aged man glanced over his shoulder, but Sora was completely engrossed in the computer.

"Vincent's home base is a world called Displaced Crossing. It's near where Traverse Town was."

Mickey nodded, "I've been there."

"Good. There's an inn on the west side of town that he stays at," explained Cid. "If he's not there, wait. He will be."

"Thank you," Kairi smiled at him.

He snorted. "Don't thank me. If Leon hadn't sounded so worried 'bout the kid there, I wouldn't have told you nothing. Vincent's not gonna be happy with me."

"He'll get over it." Aerith did not seem concerned in the least.

"Yeah, eventually." Cid went toward the entrance and tossed his cigarette butt out into the former Heartless factory. "If time's as critical was you made it sound, you better get out of here."

Sora was already beside Kairi. "It is. Let's go."

He looked at Aerith, "Will you tell Leon good-bye for us?"

"Of course." She gave the boy a quick hug. "You'll find a way to help Riku, Sora."

"Yeah," Sora sounded confident but there was uncertainty in his eyes. "All I gotta do is find Cloud. Then everything will be fine."

Aerith looked a bit worried, but said nothing.

"Tell the vamp he could come visit once in a while," stated Cid as the trio began to pass him on their way out.

"Will do." Sora waved a hand, "See ya."

Aerith stepped up to Cid and they both watched the small group leave. Cid pulled out another cigarette. "You think Spiky's gonna be willing to help them?"

Aerith frowned, "I don't know…but he has talked about Riku before."

"And?"

A touch of a smile crossed her face. "He certainly worried about him."

"Humph," the mechanic grunted. "Well, it's something. I'm goin' back to work."

Thank you, all. Just a reminder, Seiya is borrowed. Keep reviewing, guys.


	7. Au Fait

Chapter 6: _Au Fait_

Once back on the gummi ship, Sora slid into the co-pilot seat. "Okay! Where we headed?"

Mickey hopped into the pilot's chair. "To a new world that formed to replace Traverse Town; it contains geological elements of many of the worlds that never reformed. It's a rather motley lookin' place."

"It doesn't sound very pleasant." Kairi commented from behind them.

"It isn't," confirmed Mickey. The navigation coordinates were set and the ship took off. "Some go so far as to call it a wretched hive of scum and villainy. We will not be welcome there."

"So why would Vincent stay there if it's so awful?" Sora was clearly confused. "If all of his friends are on Radiant Garden, why doesn't he just go there?"

"He has his reasons."

Sora frowned even more deeply. He kept quiet however, and let Mickey fly them to their destination. Once the wrap drive was disengaged, Sora stared out the viewport. Kairi came up to stand beside him, both now hovering over Mickey's position in the pilot's seat.

From what they could see, the world really was a collection of random pieces of architecture and geological features, they all mishmashed together to create a disproportioned landscape. The atmosphere surrounding it was darker than Twilight Town, giving the impression that the world was in a perpetual nightfall.

"You sure we're gonna find him here?" Sora asked hesitantly, a nervous tone to his voice.

"He'll be here." Mickey began landing the ship. "Kairi, would you get my coat from the back locker? Oh, and do you have any darker clothes with you? We don't want to stand out too much."

She shook her head.

"Humm…" The mouse twisted his lip in thought. "This is a rather dark world. Sora should be fine, but I'm worried about you."

"Maybe she should stay on the ship," suggested Sora, ignoring the scandalized look Kairi shot at him.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Mickey quickly explained his reasoning, "Someone should stay with the ship in case of trouble and fewer of us together will draw less attention. We want this to be a quick visit."

Kairi was clearly unhappy with the idea, but she did not have a good argument against it. She also realized that Mickey was trusting her with their only way off this world should things go wrong. Yes, she was being left behind, but she was not being left out.

She agreed, stating her condition as well, "Okay, but I have a list of questions I think need to be asked."

"Of course," agreed Mickey, "You are the brains behind this operation."

Sora pouted. "Then what am I?"

Mickey met his gaze easily, "The heart."

"Oh…" Sora frowned for a mere second and then brightened. "So, we almost there or what?"

Kairi rolled her eyes and went to the locker Mickey had described. She opened it up and pulled out a miniscule black leather hooded coat. She paused a brief moment, wondering why he still had this, before returning to the cockpit and lying it on the passenger seat opposite hers.

The ship was descending now, and the ride got a little bumpy as they dropped through some cloud cover. She had not taken her seat yet, and a rather large jolt caused her to stumble against Sora. The boy blushed a bit at suddenly having Kairi's chest practically in his face.

Kairi quickly apologized and got to her seat. Another few minutes found them landed near a crumbling three-story building. Once powered down, Mickey hopped from his seat. He took his coat and shrugged it on.

"Hopefully, this won't take very long." He pointed to a button on the control panel. "If there's any trouble, hit this. I have a transmitter it's wired to."

"Okay." Kairi nodded, suddenly a little afraid.

Mickey noticed this. "Don't worry. We're far out from the center of town and the ship's coloring will blend into the surroundings. It's very unlikely any one will even know it's here."

Sora was watching her with concern. "You know, maybe we should bring her with us."

Kairi placed her hands on her hips. She did not know what this behavior was about. First, he did not want her to go with them, and now he wanted her to. They didn't have time for this. "It makes more sense for me to stay here, Sora. Either way, I'll be in just as much danger."

Sora rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah."

She smiled gently and patted his head. "Good, then get out of here."

--0—0—

"Where the heck are we?" Sora looked around him, a deep frown marring his usually cheerful face. He had been ordered to keep his hood up. While he had traveled to many places during his previous journeys, none of them where like this. The hopelessness permeated the air and the gloom that clung to everyone they passed physically pained him.

"The gang on Radiant Garden were extremely lucky, Sora, as were all the people who ended up in Traverse Town when it existed. They managed to keep together, and found something to band together and work for." Mickey glanced around the corner they were about to turn down. He had his own head covered though his ears were still quite noticeable. "The people here were lost in darkness for a long time."

The boy followed him down a large street. He guessed they had finally reached the main drag. "…And I though Tortuga was bad."

"You went there?" Mickey sounded rather perturbed. "I'll have to speak to Captain Sparrow about that…"

They fell silent, continuing down the road. Sora tried his best not to make eye contact with anyone they passed. The feeling he got here made his skin crawl and gnawed at his soul. An overwhelming sense of pity had consumed him and he desperately wished he could do something for these people.

"Here we are." The mouse king looked up. Sora followed the movement. They stood before a thirteen-story building made of burnt-orange concrete. The top two floors had black, wire balconies. Painted across the front was _The Hollywood Hotel_.

Sora chuckled nervously. "Well this looks inviting."

Mickey made no comment, climbing the steps and going through the revolving door. With a heavy sigh, Sora went in after him. The lobby was dim and dusty with ancient looking furniture.

"What floor is he on?" Sora sneezed.

"The top," The king glanced toward the elevators and muttered. "I don't think we should risk it."

"Risk what?"

"The elevators are said to be cursed," He answered casually.

"What?" Sora gaped. "Wadya mean 'cursed'?"

Mickey led him to the stairwell. "The story is that the night this hotel opened, a bolt of lightening struck the building. A group of people where in one of the elevators and it disappeared along with them."

Sora looked back the cluster of lifts, noting the Out of Order sign on the far right one. "Sounds like something out of the Twilight Zone."

"Indeed," Mickey managed to push over the door. "You should have no trouble handling thirteen floors."

"Well, yeah." Sora laughed; "How about you?"

Mickey removed his hood. The smile he gave the boy was on the wicked side. He motioned Sora ahead and once he passed, the mouse king leapt up onto his back. Sora paused for a second. "What the-?"

"I'll slow us down," Mickey explained with a hint of amusement. "Now let's go."

--0—0—

Sora braced his hands on his knees, catching his breath. It really had not been too terrible, but thirteen flights of stairs were still thirteen flights of stairs. Mickey had hopped off his shoulders and was already heading down the hall.

Every door appeared sealed and the cobwebs decorating the frames showed they had not been disturbed in quite some time. The king made it all the way to the end, pausing to glance out the partially open window then slowly returned, again looking over everything.

"Any idea which one is his?" asked Sora as he straightened. Another window was cracked open behind him and a dirty breezed managed its way in.

"Whelp, none of the doors appear to have been touched in years." Mickey sighed. "I suppose we should wait like Cid said."

Sora paced a few steps before the elevator doors. He noted that the internal seam of the doors appeared to be charred, as if something had once burned within them. He bit his lip as he continued his circuit for another ten minutes.

Suddenly, he threw up his hands. "Where is this guy? We don't have time to be sitting around waiting!"

"Calm yourself, Sora." A new voice caused him to jump. He whirled around, Keyblade drawn.

Before the window at the other end of the hall stood a tall, thin man who was clad in black with a very familiar looking red caplet that was torn and frayed at the end and a gold claw-like gauntlet on one hand. He wore a red cloth wrapped around his forehead, but it did nothing to keep his long black bangs out of his face.

"How do you know-?"

"You are the Keyblade Master." That low, rough voice explained as if Sora should have already realized this. "Time is growing short, and there is very little I can do to help you."

Sora began with no preamble. "How do we stop the Jenova cells?"

"You don't."

"What-" The brunette stepped forward threateningly.

Mickey darted ahead of him, "Sora."

The boy stopped.

The mouse turned and focused his attention on the man down the hall. "Is there anything you can tell us that might help, Vincent?"

"I was not privy to any of the information pertaining to the Jenova Project. Lucrecia was very careful to keep me in the dark about it." There was a clearly saddened tone to his words.

"Who's Lucrecia?" Sora blurted out.

There was a very long pause before Vincent looked at them again. "Lucrecia is, was, Sephiroth's mother…His true mother."

The boy froze. "Sephiroth's mother…? So does that mean…?"

"Sephiroth was her only child." The sadness turned bitter. "Hojo found another to bare Riku."

Sora snorted softly. "Then who's their father?"

Vincent studied him intently. "You cannot guess?"

The boy's blank expression answered the question.

"Their father is also their creator."

Sora's eyebrows knitted together. Suddenly, his blue eyes widened. "You mean… Whoa, that's just, just…"

As he fell silent, Vincent placed his crimson gaze on the ruler of the worlds. "I see no way to save the boy from his fate outside of death. His body is conditioned to work with the cells; he cannot live without them."

"What we need to do is figure out a way to stop the reproduction once the excess in removed," explained Mickey. "Maleficent somehow accelerated them, increasing production."

Vincent folded his arms. "If she used a spell there may be another that would counter it. Unfortunately, magic has never been something I was well versed in."

Mickey nodded. "I wish more of Hojo's research could be found."

"Spread out among the worlds like Ansem's reports were?" The corner of Vincent's lip turned up. "That would be nice; though there wouldn't be nearly enough time for you to collect it all and Jenova was not his only experiment."

Sora was listening to the two with a great deal more attention than most would probably assume him capable of. Vincent clearly felt this was a lost cause. He found himself strongly disliking the man.

"Have you heard anything as to Cloud's whereabouts?" asked Mickey.

The man shook his head slowly. "However, there are rumors that Sephiroth has been seen on three different worlds."

"Which ones?" Sora demanded. If they could locate Sephiroth, then there was a very good chance they could track down Cloud. There was also the added bonus that Sephiroth himself might have some idea how to stop the Jenova cells.

"New Tokyo, Shamballa, and Raccoon City," answered Vincent. "I find all three locations very unlikely."

"Why?" questioned Sora.

Vincent turned his eyes to Sora. "They are very removed from the other worlds. Sephiroth would want to remain close to Radiant Garden, where he could keep an eye on the survivors of our world."

Sora decided that this made sense. "Could he have gone to the Coliseum?"

"For all intents and purposes, the Coliseum no longer exists." The raven-haired man dropped his arms to his sides. "However, the Underdome is a possibility, although Hades despises Sephiroth."

"I've heard that." Mickey grinned. "Won't even say his name, he's so afraid of Sephiroth."

"Hades is an idiot," Sora commented loudly.

Vincent and Mickey stared at him.

"Well, he is."

"Right;" Mickey turned away slowly. "There are a few other questions we were hoping you could help with, Vincent."

Crimson eyes focused on the small being.

From his inside pocket, Mickey pulled out the folded piece of paper Kairi had given him as they exited the ship. He had not taken the time to read it beforehand, and had no idea of the nature of her questions. He opened the fold and read the first thing written.

"Is Cloud gay?" He blinked once. Well, that was to the point, he thought. That girl certainly did not beat around the bush.

A single black eyebrow arched up and a smirk appeared. It was the first _real_ expression they had seen on him. "I believe that is something to ask him."

"Why don't you answer the question?" Sora gave him a hard look. He was getting tired of the man's enigmatic replies.

"That is not my information to reveal."

"Well, who's he gone out with?" Sora pressed, determined to get a definitive response. "Have you ever noticed him liking anyone?"

"I am only aware of one prior relationship. It was believed by some that he once held an attraction for Aerith, but that has long since been discredited." Vincent met the boy's blue eyes before returning to Mickey, "Next question."

"Has Cloud always shied away from people?"

"Yes, particularly those he cares for." Vincent turned a bit to look out the dirty window behind him. "He is deathly afraid of failing those close to him. He has convinced himself that by remaining close, he only hurts people. Remaining distant is his defense against his own insecurities."

Mickey nodded. "I've noticed that."

"He has an enormous capacity to love; however, his fear overshadows it. None of the others have been able to break past that."

"Why?" Sora frowned, clearly upset by the tone of the conversation. "Why is he so afraid to be close?"

"As I said, Cloud believes himself to be incapable of protecting those he cares for. He truly sees himself as a failure, hence the reason why the darkness continues to have such a tight hold on him."

"But, Cloud's like one of the best fighters I've ever seen!" protested Sora. "Do you have any idea how hard I had to work to beat him?"

The tall man commented softly. "I believe you are missing the point."

"Huh?"

Mickey decided they needed to move on. "Has he ever mentioned Riku to you?"

"He has not; however, I know he had spoken to Aerith about him a few times. He had sounded concerned for him." Vincent gave Mickey a steady look. "I am doubtful he will be openly willing to help in your endeavor."

Mickey again nodded. "Whelp, we're just gonna have to find a way to open him up to it."

Vincent's eyes flicked toward Sora. "I don't believe the Keyblade Master will have much difficulty in that task."

Mickey grinned. "Sora does have a knack for these things."

"Huh?" Sora blinked as if he just realized they were talking about him. He shook the confusion off, and determination took over his face. "We ready to go yet?"

"I believe so." Mickey offered the raven-haired man a slight bow. "Thank you."

Vincent replied with a slight inclination of his head. "I am sorry I could not be of more assistance. If I hear anything, I will be certain to pass it along to Cid or Aerith."

"Cid wants you to visit." The King noticed that Sora was twitching again. It was definitely time to go.

"I'm sure he does." A trace of a smile appeared. "It has been quite some time since I've visited."

Sora turned to Mickey. "Well, we done now?"

The mouse nodded.

"Good." He started immediately for the staircase. He waved over his shoulder. "Bye, Vincent. See you on Radiant Garden!"

Vincent watched after him. "He certainly is something."

"Yep;" The king agreed. "They all are."

"If anyone can convince Cloud, it will be him."

Mickey agreed with a nod before running to the boy and hopping on his back.

--0—0—

"So what do we do now?" They had both pulled their hoods back up. For the first few blocks, they had remained quiet, but Sora just could not do it anymore. "We're no closer to finding Cloud!"

"Let's get back to the ship before we try to figure that out." Mickey advised, glancing around them. "It will be much safer there."

Sora frowned. Mickey had been rather paranoid since they had gotten here. It was as if he believed they were going to be attacked at any moment.

"Your Majesty," He dropped his voice low. "Do you think someone's going to try to stop us?"

"Maleficent is still out there."

That was something that had never crossed Sora's mind. What would the witch do if she found out they were working to break her spell? Suddenly, this world felt much more ominous. He began flicking his eyes about also.

"We should get some food and bring it back."

The boy brightened a bit at that notion, "Yeah."

They found a small eatery, bought a few things they felt would travel well, and continued to the ship. The gummi was exactly as they had left it, and Sora felt a wave of relief. He did not realize he had been so worried.

Kairi had waited in the cockpit and whirled around as the pair entered. There was a panicked look on her face that quickly changed to joy. "Oh, good, you're back!"

She stood up in excitement. "So did you find out anything?"

"No." Sora dropped moodily into a seat.

"That's not true," corrected Mickey. "Vincent was able to tell us a lot of things we needed to know."

Kairi nodded, but seemed to understand why Sora was so upset. She placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently, "Any idea where we go from here?"

Sora suddenly straightened. "I got it!"

Both stared at him.

"We start looking for Sephiroth!"

Kairi tilted her head. "What?"

"If Sephiroth is alive, then Cloud will be looking for him too." Sora explained animatedly. "So if we follow Sephiroth's trail, than we're bound to find out something about Cloud!"

Mickey folded his arms, a smile coming to his face. "I think he's finally starting to understand logic."

Kairi nodded. "I think that's one of the most intelligent things I've ever heard him say."

"Hey!" Sora's expression was hurt. "I'm not a total idiot."

"Not total."

"Hey!"

She ignored his second protest. "So where do we find Sephiroth?"

"Vincent is under the impression that he might have gone to the Underworld;" Mickey informed her. "Since he and Cloud had met there before, or rather at the Coliseum, it seems a likely place for both of them to go."

"Sounds reasonable," She agreed. She eyed the bag on the seat opposite the king. "Is that food?"

"Yep," Mickey grinned. He moved forward and hopped into the pilot's seat. He looked at Sora, "Shall we get going?"

The boy pursed his lips for a second; "Why haven't we yet?"

Mickey chuckled and started the ship.


	8. Uncertain Relations

Chapter 7: Uncertain Relations

Once they were in transit, Sora grew oddly quiet. Instead of trying to talk to Chip and Dale about the Gummi, questioning the King, or chatting with Kairi, he sat in the co-pilot's seat and gazed vacantly out the window. Azure eyes reflected the swirling colors outside.

After nearly an hour of this, Kairi gently shook his shoulder, "Sora?"

"Do you think Riku's okay?" He asked softly.

"I'm sure he's fine, Sora." She assured him. "Selphie would have called if anything changed."

"I know. I'm just… anxious. I want to find Cloud and make Riku completely better."

"We will." She had not released his shoulder.

"Why is it that I always worry more when it comes to Riku?" The boy sighed. "The last time I was running all over the worlds, I never really worried about stopping the Organization. It was always Riku."

"It's because you know Riku can make his own decisions." Kairi smiled a touch, "And let's face it, Riku has made a few _really_ bad choices."

"Yeah; Then he kicks his own butt about it for months after."

"Exactly."

Sora chuckled lightly. "He's so emo sometimes. I just want to strangle him."

"Or push him off his Paopu tree."

"Yeah," He grinned fully.

"Hey, you guys," Mickey interrupted. "Quit picking on Riku or I'm gonna have to tell him everything you've been saying about him."

"You always take his side." Sora pouted. "Now I get why Tidus is always complaining about his parents picking favorites."

The king looked at him in annoyance. "I don't pick favorites."

Both Sora and Kairi rolled their eyes. No one in that cockpit believed that statement for a minute.

"So we should be close now." Sora turned in his seat to check the displays. After a moment's study, he stood. "Okay, when we get there, both of you need to stay above. I'll go search the Underworld."

"Not by yourself you aren't!" Kairi protested.

"The two of you won't be able to help much down there."

"He's right, Kairi." Mickey explained. "Magic is useless in the Underworld and it drains energy from the living."

"I have an amulet that keeps me from being affected," Sora continued. "I can handle the Underworld and if Hades tries anything, I'll tell him I'm after Sephiroth. That should get him to leave me alone."

"If he's as afraid of Sephiroth as the rumors say, he's liable to go into hiding at the mere suggestion that Sephiroth is there." Mickey chuckled. A soft noise sounded and Mickey turned to the controls. "We're here."

Sora held on to the back of Kairi's chair as the Gummi dropped through the cloud layer to settle outside the tall pillars of the Coliseum. The rebuilding was coming along well, and it looked as though it would be completed soon. It was still shocking how much damage one hydra could do.

Then again, the rebuild from the first time had not gotten finished…Or from Cerberus…Or Cloud and Sephiroth for that matter. Phil's insurance had to be through the roof…If he had a roof.

Sora shook himself of the odd thoughts, knowing he could not afford to be distracted. He really did not want to confront Sephiroth again, especially since he was going to have to convince the man to assist him somehow. If he had to fight him again, he would, but it still was not something he looked forward to.

They disembarked, shielding their eyes from the bright light. As a group, they stepped forward and stopped immediately at the sound of a loud crash. They shared a look and raced up the steps.

They pushed through the second set of lobby doors into the arena. Before them was a toppled pillar which Phil the Satyr was standing on, almost crying. "Why? Why did Herc have to take off _today_?"

"Hey, Phil!" greeted Sora enthusiastically.

The half-goat literally jump-turned, startled, "Who the- oh, it's you."

He hopped off the tubular stone and walked over. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh you know...the usual."

"Right, right; a hero never rests." Phil was obviously distracted.

"What happened?" Mickey asked, looking over the mess that was the arena.

"Oh the pillar didn't get put in right." Phil waved and turned back to it in an agitated manor. "It's been leaning for days and Herc was going to fix it today but he suddenly decided he had better things to do."

Sora laughed. "So he's off with Meg."

"Probably," The short trainer scowled. "After everything I've done for him…."

Kairi nudged Sora and motioned for him to ask something. Sora frowned in confusion at her. She sighed loudly, mumbling, "Ask him about Sephiroth."

"Oh!" He looked to the satyr's back. "Hey, uh, Phil, you haven't heard anything about Sephiroth being around have you?"

"That freak?" Phil snorted. "Yeah, Hades was actually up here a few days ago trying to strike a deal with Herc to try to get rid of him. Herc may be strong but even he knows his limits."

Sora jumped excitedly. "Did he say where he was?"

"Somewhere in the Underworld; we didn't ask details."

"Darn." The brunette stomped his foot. "Well at least we know he's here."

"Or was here," Mickey corrected.

"Naw, he's still here." Sora sounded so certain about this; "And I'm gonna find him."

"Why do want to find that guy?" Phil scrunched up his face at them.

"We need him to find Cloud."

"Oh, _him_;" Apparently Phil still had not let go off Cloud's little contract with Hades. He had been reluctant to allow the warrior to participate in the games. "What do you need him for?"

"You two explain;" Sora turned on his heel and began striding off. "I'm going to the Underworld."

"Sora, wait," Mickey hopped around. Kairi turned also looking rather worried. "Don't antagonize Sephiroth."

Sora gave them the most obnoxious grin possible. "Me? Antagonize? I don't even know what that word means."

Kairi shook her head. The sad thing was he probably really did not know what it meant. "Don't pick a fight."

"Ohhhh, so that's what Donald meant." Sora responded thoughtfully.

"Sora," Mickey again tried to get the boy back on track.

"Yeah, I know." He waved a dismissive hand and began walking again. "I'm only gonna to what I have to in order to get him to cooperate."

"Why does that not reassure me?"

--0—0—

The Underworld really bothered Sora. It was dark and gloomy, and that green fog that was practically everywhere clung to his skin like it was a wraith. He shivered when he realized it very well could be. This was where the dead lived.

He walked through the maze fairly easily now, after having been lost in it for who knew how long last time he had gotten somewhat familiar with it. He idly wondered what had happened to Auron. Was the man still wandering around here somewhere, or had he finally been able to rest in peace? While he would have liked to see the Guardian, he rather hoped his story had ended.

There had been no sign of anyone so far, and Sora was quickly being disheartened. This really was a large place and Sephiroth could be holed up anywhere. It could feasibly take hours to explore this place and still never find him.

Letting out a sigh, Sora turned left. There had to be an easier way to do this.

"Why are you looking for me?"

The Keyblade Master whirled around, completely startled. He stopped just short of drawing the Keyblade. He quickly recovered and straightened.

Sephiroth regarded him with a light smirk. His long silver hair was shorter than Sora remembered and his clothing was now straight black. Those cat-like green eyes were fixed on him curiously. The expression was horribly similar to the one Riku often gave him.

Suddenly, Sora was not in the least bit nervous. "I need your help."

"My help?" Sephiroth tilted his head; "And how might I be able to help you?"

"I need to know how to stop Jenova cells."

Glowing green eyes narrowed dangerously. "How do you know of Mother?"

"It doesn't matter." Sora was determined now and he would not allow Sephiroth to intimidate him. "How do I stop them?"

"You do not. And I do not see why you have need of this information." One thin silver eyebrow quirked; "This wouldn't have anything to do with Strife, would it?"

"Do you know where he is?"

"Why do you need him?"

"Why do you care?"

A twisted grin crossed the older man's face. "You're feeling brave today. You are obviously trying to help someone important to you. Since you are asking about Mother, I can safely assume that it involves Strife."

"I need him to save Riku!" Why did he blurt that out?

Sephiroth grin faded and that intrigued look returned. "And just why do you need Cloud to save Riku?"

Sora bit his lip. He really did not want to tell Sephiroth why he needed this information. He had no idea what Sephiroth would do if he found out about Riku. He was going to have to tell Sephiroth something to get him to help.

Somehow, he knew that even if he fought the man and defeated him (again) that he would not cooperate.

Sephiroth studied Sora very closely. A calculating gleam came to his eyes and the smirk reappeared. "Perhaps we can be of assistance to one another."

He turned his back to the young brunette and took a few steps away. His voice was deceptively casual. "Some time ago, I sensed another. That presence has come and gone since then, but in the past month, it has grown increasingly stronger."

Sephiroth glanced over his shoulder a moment before resuming his relaxed stroll. "When that witch was making her pathetic attempt to recruit me to her cause, I caught sight of a young man with features similar to my own. I wrote this off at the time but as the other presence has grown more prominent, it has returned to me."

He knew. He had to. Sora felt a brief bout of panic come over him. If Sephiroth pieced together exactly who Riku was and decided to claim him…

The man turned to face the brunette. "The other is the friend you had been so desperately seeking on your last journey."

This was not good.

"Why do you want to remove Mother from him?"

Sora fought the urge to spill the entire story. He knew that it would likely not help the situation and the less Sephiroth knew the better. However, he needed to say something.

"It isn't like that…"

"Then what?" The voice was still casual but the expression was hardening. Sephiroth was losing his patience.

"Look. We know we can't get rid of the cells but we need to know how to stop their growth."

"Growth?"

Sora knew he was probably saying too much but he had to get Sephiroth to help him somehow. "Well, we have to stop them from multiplying."

The former general fell silent.

The brunette waited nervously for Sephiroth's next action. He had no idea what was going to come from this. Maybe this had been a bad idea. He should not have come down here and confronted Sephiroth by himself. He was no good with this negotiation stuff.

Suddenly Sephiroth turned, all three wings fluttering with the movement. "Come."

Sora simply followed.

--0—0—

Kairi sat on the sandy stone steps, studying a fingernail. Sora had been gone for two hours now. She knew the king was also worried but he occupied his time by helping Phil. She had done a few drills, casting various spells against large pots but had quickly tired of it.

Now she simply waited.

Mickey left the lobby and came down the few steps to sit beside her. He sighed once and offered her a smile. It was rather weak.

"Hey, guys."

They both jumped up and turned excitedly- then froze.

Sephiroth gave the king a rather mocking bow; "Your Majesty."

"Hello, Sephiroth." He replied evenly.

Kairi managed to break her uneasy stare long enough to glance at Sora. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah;" He assured her.

"Now," Sephiroth spoke casually. "What is this child prattling on about involving Mother?"

Mickey gave Sora a look that was a cross between irritation and understanding. He knew Sora had to tell the man _something_, but wondered just what the boy had said to him. It was not a good idea to give the winged man too much information.

Sephiroth's expression did not change. "I am aware of this Riku's existence, though I do not know how it came about."

Sora displayed flat out outrage. "Riku is not an 'it'! He's a person and he has friends!"

A trace of amusement appeared. "To refer to your friend as an object would also be degrading myself, Keyblade Master. Listen to the words actually spoken before applying your misguided interpretations to them."

"Huh?"

"I think he meant 'it' as in how Riku was born," explained Kairi, though she was clearly no happier with Sephiroth's choice of words than Sora was.

Mickey blew out a breath and ambled over to the toppled pillar. After seating himself, he carefully explained everything he knew in regards to Riku's creation and birth. It sounded even worse the second time.

Sora sat on the steps with Kairi beside him. He kept a close eye on Sephiroth as the man listened in what appeared to be a detached manner. He knew it was a ruse. Sephiroth was aptly taking in every word.

Once the mouse finished, there were several minutes of silence. Sephiroth did not move nor appear to react. Mickey was looking at him from the corner of his eye, along with the other two.

"So that bastard did it again." There was pure loathing in that calm voice. He did not move, but the glow of his eyes darkened as they narrowed in thought. Sora idly noted that Riku's did the same thing.

The SOLDIER looked to Mickey. "What has happened to my brother?"

All three flinched at the word 'brother'.

Mickey hesitated. "Somehow, the activation of the Jenova cells triggered their rapid replication."

"Somehow?" repeated Sephiroth as he declined his head. "Do not play games with me, Your Highness. If you stand any chance of saving the boy, you will need my assistance."

"Maleficent put a curse on him," Sora blurted out.

The silver-haired man turned toward him, "Continue."

Sora ignored Mickey and Kairi's anxious looks. "She got really mad at him for leaving and she cursed him. She found a way to make the Jenova cells multiply really fast so that by his seventeenth birthday, which was a few days ago, there would be too many and he would die. Only, the king changed it so that when the cells began multiplying he went into this coma thing instead."

Sora took a moment to breathe. "So now he's got too many cells and his body can't handle it; so we have to find a way to stop them from growing. Then, Cloud can take the extra cells, and Riku will be okay again."

Sephiroth was actually staring at him.

He grinned sheepishly, realizing he had gone a bit too far in his explanation. He studied the ground, oversized shoe toeing the sand. Mickey and Kairi were going to lay into him later; he knew it.

"Thank you."

He looked back up in confusion. Sephiroth slowly declined his head toward him. The gesture was rather regal looking and Sora found himself automatically returning it.

Sephiroth then fell back into his almost disinterested attitude. "So the witch found a replication spell that can be used on an organic substance. It is probable that it is an ancient, forbidden spell, since she fancies herself the mistress of all evil." He snorted. "I would think that Merlin would have access to many old texts, one of which is certain to mention such a thing."

Sora frowned, "But wouldn't that be dark magic?"

"Most certainly."

"Then why would Merlin know about it?"

"I did not say that he would." Sephiroth spoke as one would to a three-year-old child. "I said he would have access to the texts that would."

"Ansem's library had a section of forbidden practices." Mickey spoke for the first time in a while. "It could take a long time to go through all of that."

"Then I suggest you get someone started on it with all due haste." Black wings fluttered in the light breeze as he turned back to Sora and Kairi. "Now, explain to me why you believe that Strife will be of any use to you in your endeavors."

Sora looked to Kairi, non-verbally asking her what he should say. This part of the plan still had him a bit… confused. Moreover, the whole Riku and Cloud might or might not have feeling for each other thing troubled him. He hated uncertainty.

Thankfully, Kairi managed to take over, though it was clear by the faint tremble in her voice she was terrified to be speaking to Sephiroth directly. "Well, see, we need to remove the excess cells from Riku's body. To do that, we need someone who has already shown they can handle them. The only other people with Jenova cells are you and Cloud."

"Unless there's someone else out there you know of," interrupted Sora.

"No, there are none." Sephiroth regarded the girl. "Strife is manically afraid of letting others into his life, let alone his heart."

How did he know…? Sora mentally slapped himself. Sephiroth probably understood Cloud better than Cloud did himself.

Kairi met the man's eyes. "We have to try."

After a moment, Sephiroth turned to Sora; "And what are your thoughts on all of this, Keyblade Master?"

He set his jaw, fierce determination in his eyes. "We _will_ save Riku, no matter what it takes."

Sephiroth held his attention a minute longer before stepping away to face Mickey. "What about you, Your Majesty? Are you also willing to do whatever it takes to save one boy's life? One boy, whom has already proven to be susceptible to Darkness...?"

"He overcame the Darkness;" The mouse countered stonily.

"But can he over come Mother?" The winged man asked easily. "She is not an easy presence to ignore, as even Strife can tell you."

Mickey's jaw was tight but his words light. "Whelp, that's something we're gonna have to deal with when the time comes."

Sephiroth grinned. "Indeed you will."

He whirled around. "Return to Radiant Garden; I shall join you there."

With that, he teleported away, a few black feathers floating to the ground in his wake.

Sora blinked, the now departed man's words sinking in. He stared at Mickey. "What did he mean 'over come Mother'?"

Kairi was clearly showing her concern. "He means that now that Jenova is active inside of Riku, she can get to him. She can try to manipulate him."

Sora jerked, startled; "You mean he really could become like Sephiroth?"

"No." Mickey spoke firmly. "He wouldn't become like Sephiroth. They're histories are too different."

"Then what-?" began Sora.

"We need to leave." Mickey slid off the pillar. "Time is getting short."

He walked past the teenagers and after a shared look of apprehension, they followed.


	9. Angels and Grievers

Chapter 8: Angels and Grievers

The journey back to Radiant Garden was even quieter than the trip to the Coliseum had been. The king was clearly preoccupied with something and Sora realized that even if he asked, he would not receive an answer. Kairi did her best to provide quiet strength but she knew it was not very effective.

As soon as the Gummi set down, Mickey leapt from his seat. He did not look at the two teenagers as he passed. "Find Leon; inform him to leave Sephiroth alone."

"He's going to love that," muttered Sora.

"Whelp, I'm not happy about it either but he is our only hope right now of saving Riku." The mouse explained. "He knows something…"

Trailing off, Mickey left the cockpit. The sound of the door opening drifted toward the two teenagers. A heavy feeling in the air accompanied it.

Sora stared at the deck floor. "You know, I wasn't really scared until now."

"It'll be okay, Sora." Kairi assured him.

"How can you say that, Kai?" The boy shook his head. "Even if we _can_ wake Riku up, and that's looking more doubtful with every minute, what will we be waking him up to? This Jenova thing is what made Sephiroth the crazy guy he is. Look at the mess Cloud is! How's Riku supposed to be able to handle it?"

Kairi placed both hands on Sora's shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes. "He will. Come on, Riku is the strongest person we know. He overcame Xehanort's Heartless and the darkness. He'll conquer this too. Sephiroth just wants to freak you out and he has."

Sora visibly collected himself. "Yeah… Yeah, you're right. Sorry for spazzing."

Kairi ruffled his hair. "It wouldn't be you if you didn't. Now let's go find Leon."

Sora blew out a breath. "He is _really_ gonna hate that we're working with Sephiroth."

"Wait until Cloud finds out."

The boy stopped and turned. "Oh, yeah… That is not going to help our cause any."

Kairi shrugged and continued exiting the ship, Sora close behind her. "Or it could prove to him just how important this is. I'm sure he knows that Sephiroth is not your friend."

They left the Gummi garage and decided to by-pass the Restoration headquarters. It was highly unlikely Leon would be there. The pair went straight for the castle, since that seemed to be were the man spent most of his time.

"Where do you think the king went?" Sora asked, simply trying to make conversation.

"My guess would be Merlin's." Kairi replied. "He's probably going to talk to him about those books."

"You know, this is where you're really gonna be important." Sora noted. "There's no way I'm gonna be able to handle going through all that."

Kairi grinned a bit but spoke with sarcasm. "Yes, I know what I'm good for."

Sora looked at her. "I don't mean…"

"Oh, I know. You've never been very book smart."

"Well that's what I always had Riku for."

"So now I'm a replacement for Riku, huh?" The girl teased.

Sora sighed, throwing up his hands. "I can't win."

Kairi giggled and the friends continued their journey to locate Leon. As expected, the sable-haired man was at the castle, standing with two other men in the center of the Great Hall. He had his arms crossed before him and when he glanced over his shoulder, there was a noticeable scowl on his face.

He dismissed the other two and turned. "What the hell makes you think Sephiroth is going to do anything but make a larger mess for you?"

"He's the only chance we have." Sora's voice was suddenly firm. "If he tries anything, I won't hesitate to take him down."

Leon studied the teen for a long moment before running a hand through his hair. "I don't like this; I want that made clear right now."

"Well, we don't either, but right now he's a necessary evil."

"Fine;" Leon turned away. "But I'm going to be watching him."

"Your mistrust is well deserved." Sephiroth's smooth voice came from behind Sora and Kairi…To their credit, neither flinched. "You have my absolute assurance no harm shall befall you or the people of this world."

The winged man calmly walked forward, stepping between the two teenagers and striding past Leon. "Now, I have some things to research. I believe the two of you would serve best by assisting me in the library."

He did not wait for an answer. He simply ascended the large staircase.

Leon glared at Sora but only left the Hall.

The boy sighed and with Kairi followed after Sephiroth. They caught up with him at the library entrance. They stopped just behind him and waited for instructions. Looking around, there were literally thousands of books.

"This is an impressive collection," Sephiroth murmured. He moved forward. "The king and Merlin are going through Merlin's books. You shall be searching through Xehanort's."

"I thought this was Ansem's castle." Sora frowned,

"It is," Sephiroth went up the wide stairs. On either side of the library there were three doors, each spaced evenly along the walls. Before them on the landing they now stood on, was a door slightly larger than the others were. "Each of these doors leads to each one of the apprentices' studies. Since Xehanort was the lead apprentice, he occupied the main one."

Sephiroth stepped closer to the door and spoke clearly. "_The brightest light casts the darkest shadow_."

There was a clicking sound and the door swung open.

"How did you know the password?" Sora asked in surprise.

"The king knew it." The silver-haired man entered the large study.

"But, how…?"

Kairi bit her lip. She followed Sephiroth in and stated, "Riku told him all the passwords, didn't he?"

Green eyes looked at her appraisingly. "You really are a bright girl. I do not believe they give you enough credit."

She smiled a bit at the praise before remembering that she was speaking with Sephiroth. She schooled her features into a more focused expression. That had been odd.

Sephiroth chuckled lowly. He went over to the far left bookcase. "_He should not vow to walk in the dark, which has not seen the nightfall_."

A pillar turned, revealing a descending staircase.

"Kairi, remain here and begin searching through the collection of history books in the case nearest to you. Sora, you come with me."

The teenagers exchanged looks, clearly hesitant.

Sephiroth sighed. "If I were going to harm you, I would have done so already."

"Maybe your bidding your time until you've learned all you can from us," Sora countered. "I know that you can tell we haven't told you everything."

That amused smirk appeared. "Then best be on your guard, Keybearer."

He turned and descended the stairs. After a moment as well as a quick, reassuring smile, Sora followed. It was dark and cramped in the stone spiral passage. Sora bumped into Sephiroth twice before the man ordered him to take hold of his wing and use it as a guide.

They emerged into a large laboratory, a bank of globular glass against the far wall. Inside of each floated a small, pink heart. The outsides of each of these hearts were blackened, some more than others.

Sora stared in shock. This was… "This is where it all started."

"Likely." Sephiroth appeared to be unaffected by any of it. He had proceeded to an alcove beyond the lab table in the center of the room. He pulled several journals from one of the shelves that lined the wall.

When he returned to the main chamber, Sora was still staring at the contained hearts. There were tears in his eyes and his face was twisted in horror. "How can you not be affected by this?"

Sephiroth set the notes down on the lab table. He stepped over to stand beside the boy. "At what point was it ever said that I was unmoved by the inhuman experiments done here?"

Sora looked up. Sephiroth's expression was as impassive as always. "Are you?"

The man abruptly turned, shoulder wing twitching once. "There is less here than I had hoped for."

The teen watched the former general for a moment before going to the table himself. He looked over the stack of journals. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"Anything pertaining to artificial replication of an organic substance; I am almost certain Xehanort was creating his own beings to perform his experiments on." Sephiroth picked up the top journal. "If he was using actual citizens, it would have been quickly noticed. He had to have created his own vessels to carry the hearts."

"Wait. You mean he was _making_ people?"

"Correct."

Sora looked disgusted.

Sephiroth flicked his long bangs from his face. "It was a twisted scientist that created your best friend."

The brunette froze. He really had not given much thought to the actual story of Riku's birth. Riku has been someone's creation. He was an experiment. How was Riku going to handle that when he found out?

Sora bit his lip, blue eyes glancing up to regard Sephiroth. "Riku's in for a really rough time, isn't he?"

The man studied him for a long moment. Something that looked very close to sadness flitted through his green eyes. He broke off the consideration and returned to the journal in his gloved hands.

After a pause, Sora began reading as well.

--0—0—

Sora seriously believed his head was going to explode. They had gone through nearly every journal and he at least had found nothing. He could not even begin to understand most of what he had read.

Sephiroth had remained completely silent as he read, making a slow circuit around the room. There was no way to tell if anything the man read made sense to him or if there was anything of use in it. For some strange reason, Sora had the feeling this was the first time Sephiroth had to search through lab notes.

Light footsteps echoed from the stairwell, and both Sora and Sephiroth glanced over. Kairi appeared in the opening and was only startled for a moment before stating, "The king is in the study. We believe we've found something,"

"So have I." Sephiroth closed the record in his hands, returning it to the table and taking up one of the one's he had read earlier.

He left the lab, trailing after the girl.

Sora closed the journal he had, tossing it on the table. As he passed the glass containers along the wall, he had a sudden urge to take the Keyblade and hack the things to pieces. However, he did not know what would happen to the hearts within them.

Instead, he whispered an apology that even he did not understand the reasoning for and jogged up the stairs.

In the study, Mickey was standing on the large desk. The journal Sephiroth had brought lay open before him. Kairi sat behind the desk, reading over an ancient looking text. Sephiroth stood near the mantel with a clearly newer book.

Sora felt horribly left out and quite useless. He quietly slipped out of the room and wandered along the balcony. He found himself pausing before each door he came across, wondering which apprentice had used each one. Every one of these small rooms had belonged to the Other of several members of Organization XIII.

There was something familiar feeling about all of this…

"Sora?" called Kairi from the doorway of the main study. "We need you."

He jogged over and with a smile, re-entered Xehanort's study. He clapped his hands once. "All right! What do we have to do?"

Mickey gave him a bemused smile. "Whelp, we found the replication spell and I'm pretty sure that using the information Sephiroth found, I can create a new spell that will negate the current one."

"You think?" Sora echoed unhappily.

"It is an extremely complicated spell." Sephiroth put in calmly. "And Mother will not simply allow it to take. She wants to grow."

Sora's face fell. Somehow, he knew this was going to be the hard part but he had so desperately hoped…

"It's not impossible, Sora." Kairi placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It's just going to be very difficult. We'll make it work."

He nodded.

"Now, the spell is going to take time to fully take hold and that is something we are rapidly running out of," Mickey continued. "By Seph's estimates, Jenova will by now be adapting herself to the changes I made and working around them."

"You mean she's gonna try to _counter_ the counter spell?"

"Of course;" Sephiroth explained. "Mother wants to expand; she wants to be whole again, no longer dependant on her children. When the witch placed the original curse, Mother would have been overjoyed."

"Great." Sora muttered. "So she's going to fight the counter-counter curse."

"That's why Kairi and I will be leaving now for Destiny Islands. The sooner we can get started, the less time she'll have to manifest her control." The mouse clarified, "Which leaves the search for Cloud to you and Sephiroth."

"Ah, no offence to Seph here," The man's shoulder wing twitched at the nickname, "But how the heck am I supposed to convince Cloud to listen to me with Sephiroth there? He's likely to think Sephiroth somehow made me his puppet and outright attack us."

"That is a legitimate concern," Sephiroth noted. "Strife does tend to react rather than act."

Mickey smiled. "That's why _he's _going with you."

Sora tilted his head and turned. Leon leaned in the doorway, arms crossed, with a deep scowl on his scared face. The teen glanced back at Sephiroth who, while his expression was still neutral, had narrowed his green eyes.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

--0—0—0—0—

Note: The two quotes come from a Tibetan adage, and JRR Tolkien, respectively.


	10. A Heart's Decision

Chapter 9: A Heart's Decision

Kairi and the king gathered the books they would need as Sora, Sephiroth, and Leon watched on with varying expressions. Sora was pensive, worrying his lower lip. Sephiroth stood in a completely casual manner but his eyes were taking in everything. Leon did not even try to pretend he was all right with any of this, glare switching between Mickey and Sephiroth.

"All right," The mouse looked at the three near the door. He gave them a reassuring smile despite the uneasiness painting the rest of his face. "We're off to do what we can."

He hopped off the desk and headed toward them, Kairi a few steps behind. "Leon, keep me informed of everything. I need to know the minute things happen."

"Understood."

Kairi hugged Sora tightly. As she did she whispered, "We can do this, Sora."

He embraced her in return and nodded. "Yeah; Of course we will."

"Kairi," Mickey called gently.

"I know." She moved away from Sora and waved to the other two. "Good luck with Cloud."

They said nothing. She smiled a touch at Sora again and followed the king out of the room. Sora stepped over to watch them leave the library, a slight frown tugging at his lips. Once they were out of sight, he turned back to the room.

Sephiroth had moved to the desk and was collecting the remaining reports. Leon's glare intensified. "What do you think you're doing?"

"There is information within these that I find of use." The winged man smirked. "I shall return them when I am finished."

"Look, Sephiroth, I'm not doing this to help you with whatever twisted schemes you're planning." Leon ground out. "I'm here as a favor to the king and I'll be damned if I simply let you have anything that you could use to threaten this world."

"Relax, Leonhart. I have no interest in this world." Sephiroth studied the file in his hand. "This is of a more… personal nature."

Leon opened his mouth to snap something but Sora cut him off. "Guys, we need to get out of here and find Cloud!"

Leon sighed but nodded his agreement. "Do we have any idea where to start looking for him?"

"Well, he's obviously hiding from everyone so it will be somewhere secluded." Sora thought aloud. "I'm thinking he's out past Zero District, that way he can sneak in to get things like food and such and he can keep an eye on things in town."

"I doubt he gives a damn about what happens in town." Leon muttered. "I doubt he cares about anything."

"You do not understand Strife at all." Sephiroth idly noted, flipping through a spell book. "You would have had no hope of locating him without me."

"We haven't found him yet." Leon snapped.

Sora studied the winged man a moment. "You know exactly where he is, don't you? You've known since we got here."

"And likewise, he is aware of my presence." Sephiroth snapped the tome shut and replaced it to the desk.

"So where is he? Is it far?" Sora turned for the door. "Let's get the heck out of here."

"Leaving the castle is not necessary."

Leon angled his head. "He's _here_?"

"He has been all along." The silvered man smirked. He moved away from the desk and strode past both Leon and Sora. "Let us pay him a visit."

Leon shot a glare at the back of the man's head then glanced at Sora. "I can't believe we're relying on him."

"He's all we've got." Sora stated calmly. "And I don't know why, but I trust him."

Leon blew out a breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I hope you're right about this, Sora. Let's go."

--0—0—

Sephiroth led them through a complicated maze of hallways. Sora was completely lost after the fourth, or was it fifth? He matched his steps with Leon, who maintained a steady five feet behind the villain. The teen could literally feel his companion's animosity.

"Leon, I-"

"Forget it, Sora." The man glanced over. "I understand. As long as this pays off, everything will be fine."

Sephiroth abruptly halted before them. He turned his head to the side for a moment as if considering something, "Clever, Strife."

"What?" Sora nearly shouted.

"He's trying to hide from me." His shoulder wing twitched. "Too bad he cannot."

"Where is he?"

"One floor above and off to the right." Sephiroth spoke slowly.

"If he knows you're searching for him, what's to keep him from leaving?" Leon asked. "He's awfully good at disappearing."

"To you mere humans, perhaps;" Sephiroth resumed walking. Sora and Leon followed. "Cloud has not learned any true control of his gifts. He knows I am here because he can sense my presence but he cannot locate me specifically."

They found a staircase and ascended them. Entering the new hall, the former general again halted. After a moment, he nodded ahead. "Two rooms down, on the right. He's prepared to attack."

"Great." Sora muttered. "I'll go in first."

Sephiroth quirked a thin eyebrow at the teenager.

"He's less likely to attack me and if he does, I know I can block it." The boy explained. "Seph goes in last."

"Insist on calling me Seph again and this conversation will be a mute point, Keybearer."

Sora completely waved the threat off. He walked determinedly down the hall to the room Sephiroth had indicated. The other two followed, Leon taking the left and Sephiroth on the right.

Sora nodded to Leon and cracked open the door. "Cloud? Cloud, it's Sora."

He opened it further, taking one step in.

First Tsurgi dropped down before him, cutting into the door but rather far from his actual body. "Where is he?"

"Put the sword away, Cloud." Sora turned his head to met intense blue eyes. "We need him."

Cloud stared at him with narrowed eyes. As expected, he seemed to believe that Sora had some how been compromised. The sword moved but only to be angled toward the teen's neck.

"Knock it off, Strife." Leon demanded. "The kid's his normal overly-trusting self."

Cloud flicked his eyes toward the other and reluctantly withdrew his sword. He took one step back, eyeing Sora suspiciously. "What do you mean you need him?"

Sora acted like the door incident did not happen. He strolled into the room, Leon right behind him. The sable-haired man flanked the door and seemed to brace himself, meeting Cloud's gaze and silently willing the man to stay calm.

Then Sephiroth entered, light smirk on his face. He walked opposite of the others, placing some distance between himself and his adversary. "Good to see you again, Cloud."

"You all have five seconds to explain." The blonde threatened.

"It's Riku." Sora announced.

Something in Cloud's expression changed; "Riku?"

"He's gonna die if you don't come and help him, and we needed Seph…iroth to find you!"

Leon rolled his eyes. He spoke directly to Cloud. "It turns out Riku is part of the whole Jenova thing. In an act of revenge, Maleficent placed a curse on him, which made the Jenova cells start rapidly multiplying, overwhelming his body so that it will become too much for him and he will die. King Mickey managed to place another spell that put Riku in a stasis mode, slowing down the process."

Cloud stared at him, clearly trying to decide if the other man had gone insane or not. He looked back at Sora, then Sephiroth. The focus stayed on the former general.

Sephiroth sat in a dusty chair and began speaking in a bored tone. "This Riku boy is the missing piece of Mother that I have been searching for. The witch located a spell that allowed her cells to replicate in a rapid pace thus strangling the rest of his body's cells and ending his life.

"The King has used a different spell to counteract the one the witch placed and we believe we have located another that will stop the replication entirely. However, there is the issue of the additional cells already present." Sephiroth smiled. "That is where you come in."

Cloud finally put his sword away. "What do you need me for?"

"You are the only one who can take on Mother's cells without consequence." Sephiroth stated.

"Why not just kill them?"

Sephiroth's face hardened and his pupils thinned out. His words were clipped; "Those cells are a part of the boy, destroying them would constitute destroying a part of the boy himself. Mother does not simply release her children."

"Oh." Sora suddenly breathed. "So _that's_ why they'd become bonded."

"What?" Leon frowned.

"Yes." Sephiroth confirmed, ignoring Leon's question.

Cloud turned away and moved further across the room. There was a large painting of an oceanscape hanging on the wall. He stared up at it silently.

"Does Riku know what he is?" The blonde asked softly. There was some barely heard emotion to his voice.

"No." Sora replied. "The only one who knew was the King. He never told Riku about any of it."

"Riku always knew he was somehow different." Cloud spoke absently. "He said he could feel something crawling beneath his skin. He said it was terrifying yet strangely comforting."

"That would be Mother." Sephiroth confirmed. "That was precisely how I felt when she first began awakening."

Sora watched the blonde man carefully. It certainly sounded like he and Riku had spent some time together. The tone of his voice was also revealing.

Cloud turned to regard Sephiroth. "Does he stand a chance?"

Sephiroth stared at the other, expression bland. Cloud, on the other hand, while his features were set, had eyes nearly as revealing as Riku's were. At the moment, they were filled with complete concern.

The older man's trademark smirk appeared, "If you give him one."

A muscle in Cloud's jaw tensed. He and Sephiroth kept studying one another as if waiting for the other one to reveal some vital, hidden piece of information. Both Sora and Leon were observing this intently.

Cloud folded his arms before him. "Are you going to try to claim him?"

"I believe that is irrelevant at the present time."

"No, it isn't." The younger man countered. "I will not help you create another puppet."

"Even if it means letting the boy die...?" Sephiroth actually snorted. "How very… _you _to push aside what your heart desires and allow your fear to govern your decisions."

"Shut up."

"And for a moment, you had me believing that you cared for the boy. I thought that perhaps he did stand a chance defeating Mother, but I see I am mistaken." The winged man stood gracefully, brushing at his arm. "Then I shall retrieve young Riku and handle him myself."

"No!" Cloud abruptly shouted. He darted forward and gripped Sephiroth's arm. "Don't."

Sephiroth gazed down at him. "Do you love the boy?"

The blonde stared at the other man's sleeve for a long moment before flicking his blue eyes up.

Green eyes somehow softened and what could only be described as a benevolent expression crossed Sephiroth's face. "Then you know what you must do."

"I…"

The expression changed. An angry light came to Sephiroth's eyes. "You have five minutes to make your choice, Strife. Either you save him and give him a real chance at life, or I will, and you will have condemned him to a life devoid of light."

Sephiroth turned and strode from the room.

Sora had long since gotten lost in the conversation. He knew that they had been talking about something of horrendous importance but had no clue as to what it was. However, there had been one thing he had noticed, and it was all that truly mattered to him.

"Come on, Sora." Leon pulled away from the wall.

"But…"

"Leave Cloud to think;" The steel-eyed man placed his focus at the blonde staring vacantly at the floor. "Make the right choice, Cloud."

Then he exited the room.

Sora bit his lip. He wanted to say something but found he had no words. He had no idea what he could do at that point that would influence Cloud's decision.

He was not sure why, but he found himself walking toward Cloud. He placed himself before him and after a moment, blue eyes lifted to regard blue. "You can save Riku, Cloud. I know it."

Then he followed the path Sephiroth and Leon had taken out.

As he walked down the hall, he felt tears forming in his eyes. He had really thought this would be the easy part. They had found Cloud and told him the situation. One good look at the man's eyes as he heard the story and you knew he cared about Riku.

So why was the man hesitating? What was there to think about?

Sephiroth and Leon were waiting next to the stairs they had come up earlier. Sephiroth stood tersely a few feet out and Leon was again leaning against the wall, arms crossed before him. Neither man reacted as Sora approached.

The teen paced around a bit before it all became too much. He dropped heavily to the floor, hands coming up to cradle his head. "What the hell is there to think about? The choice should be obvious!"

"For you, it is." Leon stated quietly. "But you are not Cloud. I warned you this would happen."

"But he loves Riku!" Sora protested. "I _know_ he does. Why can't he-?"

Sephiroth turned. "Love is not always enough, Keybearer."

"It should be."

The slivered man seemed to mull over this. "Perhaps is should."

The blue-eyed brunette looked up. "Are you really going to help Riku if Cloud doesn't?"

"I could, but in the long run it would do more damage than good." Sephiroth's words were harsh. "If it does indeed come down to that, it would be in your best interest to let your friend die."

"What do you mean by that?" Sora demanded.

Sephiroth moved further down the hall. "Strife has one minute."


	11. Twilight's Return

Chapter 10: Twilight's Return

Sora stared at the door they had all recently left from, willing its remaining occupant to appear. He waited anxiously, counting down the seconds remaining. Sephiroth had fallen silent and Leon simply studied the rug beneath his boots.

"Time's up." Sephiroth turned toward the other two. He stepped toward the stairs.

Sora looked at him, feeling tears prickle at his eyes. "I can't believe it."

Leon sighed and moved to follow Sephiroth.

"I still have three seconds." Cloud's quiet voice called out.

Sora whirled around, expression lighting up. He knew Cloud would not let them down. Upon seeing the man's face, however, that certainty again fell.

The blonde approached them cautiously. His features were unreadable and his eyes held a dull tone to them. "Where is he?"

"Back home," Sora answered in an uncertain voice.

"I need to see him."

"Does that mean…?"

Sephiroth tilted his head in amusement. "Well, Strife, again you do exactly what I expected you to."

Cloud met the man's eyes squarely. He then looked to Sora and repeated. "I need to see him."

Sora nodded. Unfortunately, he had not thought about how they were to return to Destiny Islands. The king and Kairi would likely have taken the Gummi. He glanced at Leon, wondering if he knew.

Leon was watching Cloud. There was something about the scarred man's expression that hurt Sora to see. He knew that Leon was very upset about Cloud's disappearance after the Thousand Heartless battle. There was a lot the two of them needed to work through before their friendship could return to what it once was.

With an abrupt turn, Leon motioned vaguely toward Sephiroth. "He's your ride. As of now, I'm out of this."

He moved for the stairs and Sora darted over to stop him. He took hold of Leon's arm. When Leon looked down, Sora smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, Leon."

The scowl that had been on his face since arriving at the study lessened. "Don't thank me, Sora. I hope everything turns out all right."

Steel eyes flicked toward Cloud for a moment before Leon left down the stairs.

"And I don't even get a good-bye." Sephiroth noted idly.

Sora looked between Cloud and Sephiroth. While the winged-man was rather obviously watching Cloud's every movement, Cloud seemed to be lost in his own world. The teen felt extremely out of place with them.

"What are you going to do, Cloud?" Sephiroth's voice was surprisingly gentle.

A pained look came to Cloud's eyes for a moment. Suddenly, he raised his head and he seemed to have made up his mind. He moved closer, blue eyes fixed on his sworn enemy. "I'll do what a have to."

A wing fluttered and Sephiroth shook his head. He raised a hand and a large portal appeared. "Both of you hold into my wing, I am not very skilled with dark corridors and I cannot simply teleport the two of you with me."

Cloud stepped up and held on to the black wing without hesitation. After a second, Sora darted over and took a handful lower down. "Do you know where to go?"

Sephiroth smirked. "No, but you do."

Sora blinked. "Huh?"

The man actually laughed. "Someone needs to teach you to shield your mind, Keybearer."

"What?"

"Can we please go?" Cloud snapped.

That amused grin returned to Sephiroth's features, "Certainly."

He walked into the darkness, Cloud and Sora trailing behind. They entered the pitch black and Sora was immediately lost. He glanced at Cloud's set face, wondering just what the man was thinking. Cloud was completely unreadable.

There was no way to tell exactly how long they travelled. All concept of time seemed to be lost in the corridor. They walked for a while along an invisible path, none of them speaking for some time.

Sephiroth's voice startled Sora. "Think of home, Sora."

"Why?"

"So that your heart will lead us there;" There was no sarcasm in the sentence. However, the next one was dripping with it, "Unless you wish to rely on Cloud's mess of one to take us to Riku."

The blonde glared at the back of Sephiroth's head. He then let his expression fall neutral again only there was an odd shine to his eyes. Slightly to the left, a light appeared weakly.

Sephiroth turned his head to glance back. "It appears there is hope yet."

The small group made their way toward the light. As they got closer, Sora became more anxious to get home and the light intensified. It almost seemed to begin reaching out for them. Maybe it had been.

They were engulfed by the brightness rather abruptly and when it faded, they were standing outside of Sora's house.

Sora stared at it blankly for a moment, disbelieving that they were actually here. Now was when all of his efforts would be proven to be either worth while or completely in vain. He did not think he had ever been as afraid as he was at this moment.

"Quaint." Sephiroth commented, looking over the small dwelling. "Rather similar to the house you grew up in, isn't it Cloud?"

The blonde glared at him hatefully.

"Shall we?" Sephiroth stepped forward. "Time is the fire in which we burn."

Cloud clenched his jaw and fist.

Sora snapped out of his moment. He bolted up the steps and threw open the front door, suddenly very motivated. Sephiroth followed leaving Cloud to take the rear.

Tidus and Wakka sat in the front room and stood upon seeing the arrivals. Both looked relieved to see Sora, but were quick to throw suspicious looks at the other two. Tidus eyed Sephiroth warily. "You really do look like Riku."

"How is he?" Sora asked quietly.

The two teens glanced at one another, which told the boy all he needed to know. He nodded curtly in understanding and motioned the two men with him to follow him upstairs. The stairs were narrow and neither Sora nor Cloud could keep from snickering at Sephiroth's difficultly traversing them with his wings.

His bedroom door was closed and he rapped on it once before taking a slow, deep breath and opening it. He braced himself for the worse and stepped in. The first thing he saw was his mother.

Seiya had scurried over and immediately engulfed her son in a hug. He was still in the middle of the doorway. "Oh, baby, you're back."

She sounded like she had been crying. Sora drew back and looked at her sternly. "What happened, Mom?"

Before she could answer, Sephiroth pushed them aside. He strode to the bedside and stood over the form on it. He reached out and placed a hand on Riku's chest.

Sora moved away from his mother to get a good look at his friend. He could not help but gasp when he saw him. Riku was paler than ever and the purple-black bruising they had noted before they left had spread from his chest along both arms and was creeping up his neck. He wore a pained expression.

King Mickey was sitting on the head of the bed over Riku, both small hands lightly holding onto the teen's head. His eyes were closed in deep concentration. Kairi was a bit further down, gripping both of Riku's hands with her own. She too, seemed locked in a meditative state.

Sephiroth glanced over his shoulder. "Sora, come."

The boy simply obeyed. Sephiroth took his arm and as he stood, replaced himself with Sora. "Keep your hand on his chest."

The moment Sora's hand pressed against Riku's naked chest, he wanted to recoil. It felt like something was moving beneath the skin. "Is that Jenova?"

Sephiroth did not answer the question. He removed his gloves and moved closer to Mickey. He placed both hands onto Riku's shoulders and began muttering. It was so quiet it was impossible to decipher what he was saying.

The strange movement beneath Sora's fingers stilled. The brunette looked at Sephiroth who was staring down at Riku's sleeping form intently. With one hand, he bushed at the teen's long bangs. "He truly is like me."

Sora frowned but before he could ask what the statement meant, Mickey let out a breath and nearly fell off the bed. He caught himself and smiled tiredly at Sephiroth. "Thank you. I was about to loose him."

"What did he do?" Sora inquired.

"I got Mother to back down." The older man replied. "It will not last."

Kairi opened her eyes and grinned weakly at Sora. "You made it."

"Yeah," Sora nodded. "Just in time, it looks like."

Every head then turned to the blonde man standing at the foot of the bed.

Cloud stared at Riku's pallid face, mouth pulled down in a tight frown and eyes deeply pained. "She has him now, doesn't she?"

"Not quite." Sephiroth corrected with a distracted look to his green eyes. "I have convinced her that I will see to it that he remains with us and she has ceased her internal efforts. She will soon realize my true intent."

Sora stared at the winged man. "You're distracting her?"

"You have precious little time, Cloud."

Cloud retained his steady gaze on Riku. "What happens to Riku after he wakes up?"

"That is a question that cannot be answered."

Mickey frowned. Much as he obviously hated the answer, he could not disagree with it. "We need to see the state he's in once he awakens to decide what happens after."

"Mother does not realize that she is in fact killing Riku." Sephiroth explained. "That works to our disadvantage in that she is going to continue her efforts. Those extra cells need to be removed."

"We've stopped the replication." Kairi stated, glancing at Sora. "There's so many…"

"If he wakes up, she'll latch onto him." Cloud spoke slowly. "How do we stop that? Can we stop that?"

Sephiroth sighed in impatience, clearly beginning to struggle. "You know the answers already, Strife. Make your choice or I will."

"I…" The blonde shook his head. "I don't want to commit him to a lifetime of suffering."

Sora stared at Cloud. He could not take any more of this; "And so you're gonna let yourself and everyone else suffer instead? You can save him from all of this, Cloud! Everyone else is ready to do everything it takes to help Riku!"

The brunette was crying now. "I'm scared, too. I don't know what's going to happen to Riku, but I'll be damned if I give up before he gets the chance to fight!"

The room fell silent outside of Sora's sniffling. Kairi and Seiya watched him with concern. Sephiroth's eyes had fallen shut and a muscle in his jaw was twitching. Mickey was looking at the winged man, his frown deepening.

He started when a hand fell on his small shoulder. He glanced up and intense blue eyes met his. Allowing himself a small, hopeful smile, Mickey hopped off the bed. He moved a few feet away and waited.

Cloud settled himself beside Riku, gazing steadily at his sleeping face. He reached out his hand and traced the teen's jaw. "What do I do?"

Sora wiped at his tears. He gave the man an encouraging grin. "Whatever you're heart tells you to."

The blonde man looked uncertain.

"Do hurry," Sephiroth muttered in a tight voice. "Mother is getting impatient with me."

Cloud focused on Riku, fingers still held to soft skin. His expression abruptly changed, the unease leaving it. His eyes grew bright, clearing themselves of any uncertainty.

He leaned down and kissed Riku's pale lips.

Sora half-expected bright lights, swirling mist, singing birds, and all that other stuff you saw in fairy tales. There was none of that and yet he knew something was happening. Something about Riku changed but he could not say what. He found himself holding his breath, waiting for what seemed like forever for something to happen.

Suddenly Sephiroth jerked back, face twisted in pain. Riku convulsed and both Sora and Kairi had to stop touching him. Their friend's skin had burned them. The older man managed to snap out, "Hold on to him, Cloud."

Cloud did as ordered, gripping Riku's body to him tightly as it shook. That was when a faint green glow, nearly the color of Riku and Sephiroth's eyes, appeared. It spread out between Riku and Cloud, wrapping around their bodies. It lasted only a few moments before it faded out.

Riku's arms had come up and were clinging to Cloud. His head was pressed against the blonde's upper chest and his breathing was labored. His body trembled a bit.

When his eyes opened, Sora could breathe again. He barked out a laugh, simply overwhelmed that Riku was awake. He did not care what happened next.

"Cloud…?" Riku managed to get out weakly.

"Yeah," The blonde spoke softly, hand running through the teen's hair. "I've got you."

Riku nodded against the man's chest. He still clung to Cloud. "I don't know…"

"Shh. It's all right." Cloud assured him. He moved Riku away just enough to look him in the eyes. He searched those green depths for a moment before giving a soft smile. "I'm not leaving you."

Riku gazed back at him. "Good."

Cloud cradled Riku back to him and looked at Sephiroth. The man was leaning against the wall, clearly struggling with something. All three wings were twitching spastically. "What's happening to him?"

Mickey studied Sephiroth and then Riku. An odd smile crossed his face. "Whelp, it seems to me he's trying to give his brother a leg up in his fight against Mother."

"What?" Sora and Kairi asked together.

Cloud was watching Sephiroth. "He's distracting Jenova."

"Yep," Mickey hopped on the bed beside Cloud and Riku. "Riku, I need you to look at me."

The silvered teen complied, looking terribly confused. The mouse pressed a hand to Riku's chest and chanted something. Riku blinked, expression twisting up for a minute before relaxing into its prior exhausted state.

Mickey grinned in satisfaction. "There. Now you have your own temporary defenses against her. We'll have to teach you to make your own but these will hold for now."

Riku bit his lip. "So it's true?"

Cloud pulled Riku close to him again. He apparently understood what Riku meant. "Some of it is, Riku. We're going to work together to control her."

The younger one moved his head against Cloud's chest. He stared at Sephiroth as the man slowly settled down. "He isn't evil."

Cloud was also watching the other. He was not ready to agree with Riku but he was willing to concede that the statement could be true. He still did not entirely trust the older man.

Sephiroth's eyes carefully opened, automatically locking on the teen in Cloud's arms. The two studied one another for a lengthy span of time. Even though neither said a word, it was clear to every one that they understood what the other was thinking.

Riku offered a weak smile to Sephiroth who merely dipped his head in return. Then Riku coughed. "I need some water."

Seiya, who had been silently standing by the door jumped to life, she darted over and throwing her arms around both Riku and Cloud, she cried out, "Oh, of course baby! You can have anything you want!"

Riku snorted, "Water's fine, Seiya."

She scurried off and he chuckled before falling quiet again. In a soft voice, he called Sora and Kairi over. When the pair made it around the bed, both grinning madly with tears in their eyes, Riku snickered.

Sora became indignant. "Hey, don't laugh! You have no idea what we had to go through to get this," he gestured at Cloud, "emo jerk to come here."

Riku flicked his eyes at the blonde man who had yet to release him from his embrace. "I don't doubt it was a struggle. He always was stubborn."

"Look who's talking," Cloud muttered.

Riku smiled easily at him, snuggling closer. He turned his attention back on his two best friends. "Thanks, you guys."

"Of course;" Kairi giggled as Sora waved the gratitude off.

There was a small commotion at the door and Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka burst into the room. Seiya was behind them and she brought a glass of water over to Riku. "Wait until you hear what these three have been doing to help you while Sora and Kairi were off searching."

Tidus and Wakka shrugged indifferently as if it was no big deal. Selphie however was drooling. "Oh, oh! This was _sooo _worth it! Look at you two! I have live yaoi! I have to get pictures you two!"

Mickey chuckled. "I hate to say it, but I think she's earned a few photos…Excellent job, Selph."

The girl mock-saluted.

Riku was looking at everyone. He was obviously overwhelmed by everything. He worried his lower lip as he settled his gaze up on Cloud. He received a reassuring smile and a light kiss from the man.

With uncertainty, Riku addressed the group in a wary tone. "I don't know exactly what's happened to me, but I know it was bad. I also know it's not over yet. Thank you for everything you've done."

He looked to Sephiroth, who had returned completely to his senses. "I don't know how this is going to play out, guys."

"Doesn't matter," Sora stated calmly, folding his arms. "We'll all be here until the very end."

Riku grinned at him. "I never doubted that, you goof. You never did know when to quit."

"I do, too!" Sora protested with a laugh; "Never!"

As the others laughed with Sora, Riku glanced at Sephiroth. He had an odd understanding of the older man he now understood was his brother. He knew that Sephiroth was going to help him in every way he could. He did not know why he was doing it but he decided it was not his business.

Cloud shifted his arms around him and Riku melted into the embrace. He felt connected to the blonde in a way he could not begin to explain and was surprised how happy he was about that. He had fallen in love with the man all that time ago and had simply resigned himself to it forever being an unrequited feeling.

That other presence was still there, hovering just outside his consciousness. He knew he was going to have to face the entity that had been tying to convince him to let her in all that time. Obviously, she had not known about Xehanort's attempts to do the same.

He looked at all of his friends, his family. He knew in his heart that everything was going to be fine.


End file.
